Speaker 1: Meantime on the Andy Moore demon If Group Potline. He
Speaker 1: is the voice of the Fever friend of this show,
Speaker 1: Pat Boylan joins us, Hello, Pat, how are you John?
Speaker 2: I'm going to be with you?
Speaker 1: What is the game? The performance individually? Speaking of Caitlyn
Speaker 1: Clark last night, what does that rank and performances you've
Speaker 1: seen from her prior?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Up there anecdotally top of my head, probably top five.
Speaker 2: I mean when you consider look, I know, at face value,
Speaker 2: you look at this game on Sunday and somebody who
Speaker 2: maybe is a more casual fan m look at it
Speaker 2: and say, well, they beat a non playoff team against
Speaker 2: in Chicago. You know that doesn't jump off the page.
Speaker 2: But if you look at the circumstances around this game.
Speaker 2: This was the fifth game of Indiana's longest road trip
Speaker 2: of the season. We know how difficult the final games
Speaker 2: of road trips can be. The WNBA schedule makers did
Speaker 2: not do them any favors by making that fifth game
Speaker 2: a back to back. They played on Saturday and then
Speaker 2: they played on Sunday. You don't have a Leah Boston,
Speaker 2: one of your Big three. Chicago had won three in
Speaker 2: a row going into that game, and of course you're
Speaker 2: on the road, so all of those things considered. You know,
Speaker 2: I thought Sunday had the potential to be one of
Speaker 2: those games that could be of the trap variety and
Speaker 2: really really challenging. And without a Leah Boston, you're missing
Speaker 2: so much frontcourt presence. You needed big games from both
Speaker 2: of your guards to win. Now it turns out you've
Speaker 2: got spectacular games. I don't know that you quite needed
Speaker 2: thirty seven and ten and thirty. I mean, what what
Speaker 2: Caitlyn Clark and Kelsey Mitchell did in the second half
Speaker 2: was spectacular. It was It was maybe the best half
Speaker 2: performance I've seen from those two combined. When you looked
Speaker 2: at what they did and you know, missing one of
Speaker 2: their all stars, those two stepped up in a big way. Obviously,
Speaker 2: Caitlin was brilliant, not just with her shooting, but with
Speaker 2: her passing as well. And on a night where you
Speaker 2: have to step your game up a little bit at
Speaker 2: the end of a road trip, tired legs could be
Speaker 2: coming into play. The Fever looked the opposite, and in
Speaker 2: their three back to backs this year, second half of
Speaker 2: back to backs, they're three and zero in those games.
Speaker 2: So I think a testament to mental toughness as well
Speaker 2: as physical.
Speaker 1: As Pat Boiler and the voice of the Fever on
Speaker 1: the Andy Morri Automotive croupilin also a part of the
Speaker 1: Pacer Radio and Television networks, in which we'll talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about the content provider of that coming up
Speaker 1: a little bit later on. But you look back at
Speaker 1: the Fever and they were on top of a two
Speaker 1: game losing skid, and really there were some situations, maybe
Speaker 1: not late in Dallas, but at least in the second half,
Speaker 1: but definitely late in that Brooklyn game to where it
Speaker 1: came down to execution, and it was disappointing. The Fever
Speaker 1: did not qualify in that category to execute at the
Speaker 1: level in which it was necessary to win on the road.
Speaker 1: So I think yesterday that was another reason why last
Speaker 1: night that that game was so good, because as you
Speaker 1: kind of wondered where they might have been at the
Speaker 1: tail end of that road trip.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I and again it had all the makings
Speaker 2: of a game that whatever you want to describe at
Speaker 2: trap game whatever, being way way more difficult than you
Speaker 2: might appear it to be on the schedule. I mean, Chicago,
Speaker 2: who came in on a night's rest just beat Golden
Speaker 2: State in their previous game. Who currently is the two seeds,
Speaker 2: So I mean it gives you an idea they're playing
Speaker 2: at a higher level than the record suggests, and there
Speaker 2: were so many factors that were going against them, and
Speaker 2: you know, frankly, it was a dog fight through three quarters.
Speaker 2: Caitlin and Kelsey really started to emerge in that third quarter,
Speaker 2: but you go to break and I think after the
Speaker 2: third it was a four or five point game, and
Speaker 2: I remember thinking, Wow, those two were just spectacular, but
Speaker 2: you still have so much work to be done well
Speaker 2: then those two and not just those two, by the way,
Speaker 2: I thought Mikaela Timpson was really good again. Sophie Cunningham
Speaker 2: knocked down some shots. Maybe Lexi Hull's best game of
Speaker 2: the season and certainly her best in the last couple
Speaker 2: of month. So all of that's significant. Two, but your
Speaker 2: stars weren't just stars. They were playmakers down the stretch.
Speaker 2: They executed down the stretch, and you're right, you know,
Speaker 2: I thought for eight thirty of that fourth quarter against
Speaker 2: New York the Fever played extremely well and were riding
Speaker 2: a momentum wave that I thought was going to carry
Speaker 2: them across the finish line. After Kelsey Mitchell hit that
Speaker 2: three to tie the game with about ninety seconds left,
Speaker 2: it kind of felt like one of those games that
Speaker 2: the Fever might just steal a little bit like the
Speaker 2: Atlanta game in game one of the trip. You know,
Speaker 2: I give New York a lot of credit. They immediately
Speaker 2: got a bucket, they immediately got to stop, and then
Speaker 2: a foul and the execution in the final ninety seconds
Speaker 2: wasn't there. But look, if you don't get that Chicago
Speaker 2: game on Sunday, I think you're viewing this from a
Speaker 2: very different prism because you know, you're you're coming off
Speaker 2: a three game losing streak, which really you haven't had
Speaker 2: any significant stumbles really since mid jud or so for
Speaker 2: this team, So it would have probably felt like the
Speaker 2: first stumble as at least as it relates to a
Speaker 2: potential three game losing streak, and you're you're all of
Speaker 2: a sudden a game behind Atlanta and you're just barely
Speaker 2: holding off New York. I think they'd only be a
Speaker 2: half game ahead of New York had they lost it.
Speaker 2: So it was significant, and really I can't ever remember
Speaker 2: the WNBA like this in terms of this competitive as
Speaker 2: it relates to the top eight. I mean, Dallas right
Speaker 2: now is the eight seed, and they could easily be
Speaker 2: a top three or four team, and frankly work for
Speaker 2: a lot of the years. So all of these teams
Speaker 2: that are in the top eight are very very close
Speaker 2: to each other. They're all very good, they're all very competitive,
Speaker 2: and so each of these games down the stretch I
Speaker 2: would argue mean more than at any point in the
Speaker 2: history of the WNBA, just because I can't remember it
Speaker 2: ever being this competitive one through eight, and the difference
Speaker 2: between being, you know, a two seed and a seventh
Speaker 2: seed is obviously massive. And right now the Fever are
Speaker 2: in a virtual tie for fifth or for fourth. Excuse me,
Speaker 2: they're in fifth because they played two more games one
Speaker 2: to one, lost one on Atlanta, and that right now,
Speaker 2: you know, the tie breaker is still up in the
Speaker 2: air on who would have it between the Fever and
Speaker 2: the Dream, But right now, that's the difference between home
Speaker 2: court advantage and not. And so these final handful of
Speaker 2: games down the stretch for both of these teams are
Speaker 2: going to be absolutely massive. They're going to feel like
Speaker 2: playoff games. And frankly, these games for the last couple
Speaker 2: of weeks have felt like playoff games.
Speaker 1: Pat boylan joins us I thought the front court step
Speaker 1: up of some folks last night was big in that
Speaker 1: absence of a Leeah Boston.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Mikayla Timpson. What more? First of all,
Speaker 2: I'll start Eric, can you say about her? This is
Speaker 2: a player that was a second round draft pick, went
Speaker 2: mid second round. You know, those players are very rarely
Speaker 2: starting in year number two, and she wasn't for most
Speaker 2: of the year. But she brings something that the Fever
Speaker 2: otherwise don't really have, and there's not a lot of
Speaker 2: players like her around the league, just in terms of
Speaker 2: her sheer lengths and disrupt of ability on the defensive end.
Speaker 2: You know, if you look at wind Shares for that
Speaker 2: draft class of twenty twenty five, it was loaded at
Speaker 2: the top. It was Paige Becker's and Dominique Maloga and
Speaker 2: Sony Citron and Keiki aria Fin and all four of
Speaker 2: those are going to be perennial All Stars. And then
Speaker 2: by win Shares, the fifth best player in the twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five draft has been Mikayla Timpson, who then went
Speaker 2: thirteen picks later. So that's looking like a fantastic find.
Speaker 2: By the front office, and when you don't have a
Speaker 2: Leah Boston, you know, it's a massive hole in the
Speaker 2: middle that you're just trying to fill. Timpson twelve points,
Speaker 2: nine rebounds, three assists, some really solid defense. You know,
Speaker 2: it wasn't a standout game for Mobillings, but I thought
Speaker 2: she held her own down there and then and then
Speaker 2: I thought Maiosha Heinz Allen did so as well. And
Speaker 2: Mercedes Russell played fourteen minutes. And this is a player
Speaker 2: that wasn't even on the roster a few weeks ago,
Speaker 2: and she's probably not going to be the game changer
Speaker 2: type player. But was really jumping out to me watching
Speaker 2: her is you know, the Fever run a fairly sophisticated
Speaker 2: and elaborate offense. There's a ton of movement. You have
Speaker 2: to know where everybody is at all times, and it
Speaker 2: felt like she's really well ingrained in all of that,
Speaker 2: just kind of watching her go through her reads. And
Speaker 2: the Fever offense asked their front court to do a
Speaker 2: lot in terms of passing and dribble handoffs and screening
Speaker 2: and all of that, and so I've been really impressed
Speaker 2: at her ability to pick things up quickly and immerse
Speaker 2: herself quickly, and hopefully this is the last time you
Speaker 2: and I are talking about a Leah Boston not playing.
Speaker 2: She didn't play in both ends of the back to
Speaker 2: backs in all three this year. There's no more back
Speaker 2: to backs for the rest of the season, so knock
Speaker 2: on wood if she stays healthy. This is a conversation
Speaker 2: that we won't be having anymore, hopefully. But you had
Speaker 2: to have it on Sunday, and you had to have
Speaker 2: some players step up. The back court of Caitlyn Clark
Speaker 2: and Kelsey Mitchell I think most notable, But the front
Speaker 2: court players that did step up and hold their own
Speaker 2: against a decent Chicago front court as well, certainly noteworthy,
Speaker 2: certainly impactful in getting a key late season win Pat.
Speaker 1: Boiler joh and Andy bore on a mother group Polong.
Speaker 1: You get one more game August the twenty eighth, that's
Speaker 1: on Friday against Connecticut, and then you've got a significant
Speaker 1: break for the Fever games. Now, for a team like
Speaker 1: the Fever that is up tempo, pushing the ball and
Speaker 1: maybe doesn't rely slowing it down in half court and
Speaker 1: relying on defense, how impactful do you believe that could be?
Speaker 1: With that layoff for this team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's an interesting question. I guess I hadn't really
Speaker 2: thought about it in that prism. You know, maybe it
Speaker 2: allows you to get your legs underneath you a little bit. Also,
Speaker 2: you know, it's a team that's based on timing and reads,
Speaker 2: so that's you know, you could probably go either direction
Speaker 2: with that. Caitlin Clark Elia Boston will be busy and
Speaker 2: certainly staying basketball active, so I think it will be
Speaker 2: key for the other players that are not a part
Speaker 2: of Team USA. Of course, Stephanie White has the great
Speaker 2: honor of being one of the coaches of that team,
Speaker 2: and the Fever are extremely well represented. But for those
Speaker 2: players that aren't staying in basketball shape, not losing a
Speaker 2: beat from a conditioning standpoint, and then the timing thing,
Speaker 2: you know, you hear about it all the time. Sometimes
Speaker 2: when teams clinch a week or two the number one spot,
Speaker 2: the number two spot in the standings, they have a
Speaker 2: couple of weeks where they don't feel like they played
Speaker 2: one hundred percent and then take some time off just
Speaker 2: to make sure everybody's healthy. Then that first playoff game
Speaker 2: can sometimes be a challenge. Well, I think everybody in
Speaker 2: the league is going to be facing that once we
Speaker 2: get into late September, and so who deals with that
Speaker 2: the best will be a significant storyline. That said, it's
Speaker 2: not a new storyline for players that have been in
Speaker 2: the league for a while. The league does this essentially
Speaker 2: for the Olympics every four years and then oftentimes the
Speaker 2: World Cup as well. Now, in previous iterations of the
Speaker 2: World Cup, the league will actually has actually finished its
Speaker 2: entire season before the World Cup even begins. That's not
Speaker 2: possible now that they're playing forty four games. So that
Speaker 2: is a wrinkle into all of this. But look, I
Speaker 2: think when we're talking in three weeks from now, how
Speaker 2: quickly the Fever and everybody else around the WNBA can
Speaker 2: pick back up will be a massive storyline. Teams that
Speaker 2: take a lot of momentum into the fever break do
Speaker 2: they still have it coming out of the fever break?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 2: I think the Fever have done an excellent job when
Speaker 2: they've been faced with similar situations. This year, they had
Speaker 2: a seven day off period where if you really look
Speaker 2: at the turning point of the season, you might label that.
Speaker 2: I remember thinking when the Fever went into the All
Speaker 2: Star break they were red hot, and thinking Hopefully this
Speaker 2: All Star break is not coming at a bad time.
Speaker 2: Six days off, the Fever picked up right where they
Speaker 2: left off. So they've done a good job with gaps
Speaker 2: in the calendar this year, but there is no gap
Speaker 2: quite like the one that's coming up here very very soon.
Speaker 2: So it's a fascinating twist into all of the storylines.
Speaker 2: Is what version of these teams are coming back three
Speaker 2: weeks later? And I think the answer to that question
Speaker 2: could go a long way and determining not just where
Speaker 2: the Fever end up at the end of the regular
Speaker 2: season and into the playoffs, but you know who potentially
Speaker 2: even the eventual champion is.
Speaker 1: He is the voice of the Fever. He is Pat
Speaker 1: Boyle and he's on the Andy More Automotive Group, Pilne.
Speaker 1: This is getting to the point of contract buy out chase,
Speaker 1: a championship type of year. Season wise timing, we saw
Speaker 1: where former Fever player Dewana Bonner is now a member
Speaker 1: in that particular category. Right, No, and she's not coming
Speaker 1: back here, I'm sure, But what do you think she
Speaker 1: may land that could have significant impact as we approach
Speaker 1: the postseason.
Speaker 2: It's a good question. You know, oftentimes buyouts like that
Speaker 2: don't happen unless there's already some known interests behind the
Speaker 2: scenes that another team might be interested, which is, of course,
Speaker 2: is a fine line you always have to tell in
Speaker 2: terms of tampering and all of that. But it's a
Speaker 2: good question, you know, where she ends up. You know,
Speaker 2: off the top of my head, Las Vegas hasn't been
Speaker 2: afraid to, you know, kind of swing in terms of
Speaker 2: bringing in players. They did that with Kennedy Carter. You know,
Speaker 2: is she somebody that could fit in there? It would
Speaker 2: just be hypothetical at this point. I would guess though,
Speaker 2: the fact that the buyout happens suggests that there is
Speaker 2: a team that is wanting to make this move and
Speaker 2: that there could perhaps be news relatively quickly. You know,
Speaker 2: the next question becomes how valuable is de Wanna Bonner
Speaker 2: or any potential contract buyout player at this time of
Speaker 2: the year. History tells you. In the WNBA and in
Speaker 2: the NBA, oftentimes these contract buyouts are can be bigger names,
Speaker 2: but they don't tend to have the massive impact that
Speaker 2: you might think when they happen. She's a veteran player
Speaker 2: with a ton of experience, and any team going into
Speaker 2: the playoff needs that at the same time, you know,
Speaker 2: the best days of Dewana Bonner were probably you know,
Speaker 2: two plus years ago, so you know, how she fits
Speaker 2: in on that end of the floor will be a
Speaker 2: really interesting question. And again, all of these teams are
Speaker 2: so close. And look, I don't want to disrespect Minnesota,
Speaker 2: who's actually kind of checking out on everybody because they've
Speaker 2: had a spectacular season, But everybody from two through eight
Speaker 2: is within a few games of each other. And I
Speaker 2: don't think Minnesota is the type of team that's unbeatable.
Speaker 2: If you told me they want a championship, of course
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be shocked. But I think numerous teams, including
Speaker 2: the Fever, could take down the Links in a longer series.
Speaker 2: And as we were talking, you know, last week before
Speaker 2: the Fever games, I think the Fever's more scary playoff
Speaker 2: series is the first one because that's only best of three.
Speaker 2: I think this Fever team's going to be really hard
Speaker 2: to beat if they can get into a best of
Speaker 2: five or a best of seven situation, which is round
Speaker 2: two and then the finals, respectively, because beating Caitlin Clark
Speaker 2: and Kelsey Mitchell and Elijah Boston three or four times
Speaker 2: is going to be a really, really difficult task. So
Speaker 2: everybody's looking for any type of slight advantage when things
Speaker 2: are this close, and it'll certainly be interesting to see
Speaker 2: a where she ends up and b if she has
Speaker 2: that significant type of impact considering how close everybody is.
Speaker 3: Pat Caleb here, good to talk to you. I have
Speaker 3: a question with this because when you were on the
Speaker 3: Fever Takeover a few weeks ago, you talked about how
Speaker 3: Stephanie White her teams usually get better as the season
Speaker 3: goes on, and I think we've seen that play out
Speaker 3: here over the last couple of weeks. But one thing
Speaker 3: player wise that I think has improved as well as
Speaker 3: Mikayla Timpson, just like, what have you seen, especially since
Speaker 3: she got inserted in the starting lineup, Like last night
Speaker 3: she had that left handed block which was insane. What
Speaker 3: have you seen from her that's really helped this team?
Speaker 3: And do you think it's elevated their ceiling a little bit?
Speaker 2: I do, I absolutely do, Caleb. You know a couple moments,
Speaker 2: first of all, stand out. She's had two significant stretches
Speaker 2: late in game this year that you almost could point
Speaker 2: to her individual play or sequence of plays as the
Speaker 2: reason the Fever won. They're down by ten with five
Speaker 2: minutes to go at Phoenix back in mid July. They
Speaker 2: win that game, and I believe they are down ten
Speaker 2: when Mikhayla Timpson pins the ball off the backboard and
Speaker 2: the Fever get a three out of it, And it
Speaker 2: was the momentum changer in that game. And as you know,
Speaker 2: I think so many said at the time, including myself,
Speaker 2: I've never seen anything like that in the WNBA, a
Speaker 2: pin off the backboard like that. So she has this
Speaker 2: skill set that just you so rarely see in terms
Speaker 2: of her length and her athleticism defensively and the problems
Speaker 2: that it can cause. And then in the Atlanta game
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter, she had three consecutive buckets down
Speaker 2: the stretch in a massive game, one where the Fever
Speaker 2: trailed almost to the whole way and then found a
Speaker 2: way to get a win. So when I think of
Speaker 2: her impact, I think of those two games and if
Speaker 2: they go to the other direction where the Fever are
Speaker 2: standing right now. But she just provides something defensively that
Speaker 2: this team doesn't have in terms of that length. And
Speaker 2: what impresses me about her defensively is oftentimes you'll see
Speaker 2: Stephanie White like, you'll see her put her on the
Speaker 2: point guard or the ball handler up top, and if
Speaker 2: you're not watching intently, you might think, oh, that's a
Speaker 2: switch or a mismatch. You know, the weaver didn't get
Speaker 2: aligne defensively, and so therefore Mikayla Timpson is on a guard. No,
Speaker 2: it's by design. It's because her length causes so much problems.
Speaker 2: And she has quick enough foot speed to be able
Speaker 2: to guard players much smaller than her and then also
Speaker 2: cause disruptions in the passing lane. And then for all
Speaker 2: of that, you still need somebody who can be competent
Speaker 2: on the offensive end. Because if you're a great defender
Speaker 2: but you're not capable offensively, then this is a team
Speaker 2: you know that you might not fit on. And while
Speaker 2: she's probably not going to be the player that ever
Speaker 2: leads the team in scoring and maybe even take a
Speaker 2: three point shot, she's very very capable, smooth around the rim,
Speaker 2: and you know she rarely misses when she's rolling downhill,
Speaker 2: you know, when she's getting those passes off of Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 2: And let's give players like Caitlin a lot of credit
Speaker 2: for her as well, because her ability to find Timpson
Speaker 2: in those spaces is absolutely massive. But you know, look,
Speaker 2: if we're talking at the end of the season and
Speaker 2: you know, the Fever are are celebrating a deep type
Speaker 2: of playoff run, I don't think it would be too
Speaker 2: shocking to look back at Mikayla Timpson's insertion into the
Speaker 2: starting lineup as one of the big impetuses for that.
Speaker 2: So I do think it raises this team ceiling and
Speaker 2: again the conversation of the all these teams that are
Speaker 2: so close to each other are just looking for the
Speaker 2: tiniest edges. Well, some team might sign to want to
Speaker 2: bonner and get that, but I think for the Fever,
Speaker 2: you know, finding this role for Mikayla Timpson could very
Speaker 2: well provide that as.
Speaker 1: Well to Pat boiling with us also a part of
Speaker 1: the paces both radio and TV. The Zone. What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on that that's going to be a new
Speaker 1: home for you coming up this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and you know, we're excited about it. And
Speaker 2: you know, I think Mel Rains and our leadership group
Speaker 2: have done a good job of detailing some of the
Speaker 2: differences and the improvements, especially from a streaming perspective, that
Speaker 2: will have based on last year. You know, if you
Speaker 2: look at some of the deals that they've got going
Speaker 2: on right now, you can you can get in on
Speaker 2: this for you know, I think it's like right around
Speaker 2: sixty bucks for the whole season. And we're all we're
Speaker 2: all in an era of transition right now, and everybody's
Speaker 2: trying to figure out, you know, the best way to
Speaker 2: do this. I think an important aspect of it is
Speaker 2: having a great local channel media presence. Now that's not
Speaker 2: always the easiest thing to have, because we experienced this
Speaker 2: on the Fever side. WTCHR is a wonderful partner. We're
Speaker 2: so grateful to have them. They have all these other
Speaker 2: commitments and at times there's a handful of Fever games
Speaker 2: every year that Aaron walv because they have so many
Speaker 2: network commitments and they can't bow out of everything even
Speaker 2: if they would like to. But the opportunity to have
Speaker 2: more than a handful of games on local TV, I
Speaker 2: think is a real win as well. And this is
Speaker 2: an evolving, you know, evolution of a distribution platform. Forever
Speaker 2: it was simple, and then cord cutting happened, and now
Speaker 2: you know, everybody's trying to figure out the best way
Speaker 2: to do it. But you know, I think from a
Speaker 2: bottom line perspective, you're going to be able to stream
Speaker 2: the Pacers. I think you're going to be able to
Speaker 2: stream them at a higher quality than you could previously.
Speaker 2: I think you're going to be able to do so
Speaker 2: at a at a cheaper price point than previously. So
Speaker 2: I think all of those are wins. And I'm excited
Speaker 2: not only to see this, but as mentioned, hopefully more
Speaker 2: than a handful of games available over the air and
Speaker 2: on local TV as well. And yeah, I mean it's
Speaker 2: it's going to be a time where, you know, hopefully
Speaker 2: we're talking about a deep Fever playoff run and because
Speaker 2: in part of the Fever World Cup that's going to
Speaker 2: run into hopefully for the Fever right into the pace
Speaker 2: through season. So you and I've had so many discussions
Speaker 2: of the Fever starting up while the Pacers were on
Speaker 2: those playoff runs that they were in the last couple
Speaker 2: of years. You know, hopefully we're talking about the Indiana
Speaker 2: Fever and a deep playoff run alongside the Indiana Pacers
Speaker 2: and the dezonne Era, which will the preseason will tip
Speaker 2: off in early October and then the regular season back
Speaker 2: in late October.
Speaker 1: Pat Bolan he is with us. By the way, I
Speaker 1: brought this up a little bit earlier, I'm assuming you expect,
Speaker 1: much like I do, for those experts nationally, to completely
Speaker 1: downplay the level of play that is expected out of
Speaker 1: this Pacer team this season. Is that what you were
Speaker 1: thinking too?
Speaker 2: Yeah, no question. And look there, they've never really you know,
Speaker 2: the Pacers have never really ever been a trendy pick.
Speaker 2: And then you add in some of the offseason movement
Speaker 2: and the the out of side out of my nature
Speaker 2: of what happened last year, I can't say I'm shocked.
Speaker 2: At the same time, I think the Paces kind of
Speaker 2: tend to revel in moments like these. I think it's
Speaker 2: potentially a good thing in terms of okay, you know,
Speaker 2: put the chip on your shoulder right at the start
Speaker 2: of the year. And I think at the beginning of
Speaker 2: the year, the biggest question is going to be where
Speaker 2: is Tyrese Halliburton. And I think for all intents and purposes,
Speaker 2: he is about as good as you could ever hope
Speaker 2: he would be at this point coming off of what
Speaker 2: he came off of. But still he's going to have,
Speaker 2: you know, sixteen months since the last time he's played
Speaker 2: in a competitive basketball game, and there are all sorts
Speaker 2: of boxes he's going to need to check early on mentally, physically.
Speaker 2: And then Zubats in the middle a wonderful center. I
Speaker 2: think an upgrade at center of what you had, you know,
Speaker 2: even with Miles Turner, who you were a fan of,
Speaker 2: I was a fan of, But I think he's going
Speaker 2: to be an upgrade there. But there's certainly a feeling
Speaker 2: out process and how everything fits together, and the puzzle
Speaker 2: pieces fit a little bit differently with him in the middle.
Speaker 2: So yeah, you know, I hope got a deep fever
Speaker 2: run to talk about. But once the Pacers come around,
Speaker 2: you know, I think I think it's a really exciting
Speaker 2: start of the season as well, not just because Haliburton
Speaker 2: is back, but because they've absolutely got the type of
Speaker 2: players around him to have another really deep run. That's
Speaker 2: a conversation for months down the line. So I do
Speaker 2: think it's important how they start and what the first
Speaker 2: month looks like. At the same time, you know, if
Speaker 2: it doesn't look perfect, hopefully there will be some understanding.
Speaker 2: But yeah, the East, Honestly, I've been talking about this,
Speaker 2: this crowded WNBA standings, but the East kind of looks
Speaker 2: similar to me too. You know, I think there's probably
Speaker 2: six seven eight teams that realistically feel like they could
Speaker 2: and should win the conference, and I think the Pacers
Speaker 2: are absolutely in that group. And fortunately for the Pacers,
Speaker 2: unlike many of these teams, they've done that. They've experienced
Speaker 2: two deep playoff runs. They've won the Eastern Conference from
Speaker 2: a playoff perspective. So doing it is one thing from
Speaker 2: feeling like you could do it, and the Pacers have
Speaker 2: done that, and I expect no different, albeit you know,
Speaker 2: maybe some some learning curves as things get started in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six, twenty seven.
Speaker 1: Pat, I appreciate it today. Man, We'll we'll do it
Speaker 1: a little bit later on too, and then we'll be
Speaker 1: start starting to talk about the Pacers too. It's funny,
Speaker 1: I want to have to share my stream on his
Speaker 1: own with my mom not in Green County. I've tried
Speaker 1: to explain this to her, so we're having to share now.
Speaker 2: Well. I appreciate you helping educate everybody because obviously that
Speaker 2: is you know, one of the things that we will
Speaker 2: be looking to do is making sure everybody who got
Speaker 2: it in a different manner is able to do so
Speaker 2: as well. So that's very much a boots on the
Speaker 2: ground operation. You appreciate you doing your part well.
Speaker 1: Her favorite player is, as she calls him, ob tapping
Speaker 1: so Obi tapping favorite player.
Speaker 2: That's a good choice.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you man.
Speaker 2: Thanks.
Speaker 1: Jean Pat Boyler, voice of the Fever from the Pacers
Speaker 1: and Fever Radio and the Pacers Television Network, which is
Speaker 1: now content as you know, the streaming service Dezone on
Speaker 1: the Anymore Automotive Group plotline. He's from ESPN on ESPN
Speaker 1: dot com. Uh. We both attended a matinee Saturday performance
Speaker 1: regarding the Colts and probably wish we were doing something
Speaker 1: else most of the time. Stephen Holder joins us. Now, hello, Stephen,
Speaker 1: how are you?
Speaker 4: I'm doing well. What a matinee it was? I tell you,
Speaker 4: I was entertainment.
Speaker 1: I was trying to think of the redeeming quality of
Speaker 1: that performance, like anywhere, any significant takeaways, because I struggled
Speaker 1: to find outside of the kicking battle now even closer
Speaker 1: or if not completely changed overall, I found it really
Speaker 1: difficult anything compelling to locate after that preseason game two Saturday.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that's mostly true. I would start by saying,
Speaker 5: I think a lot of the guys you saw playing
Speaker 5: on Saturday, because I heard this feedback from a lot
Speaker 5: of people. Man, our depth is really terrible on this team.
Speaker 5: And that's a that's a reasonable conclusion because they got
Speaker 5: their ass kicked right. But I still would say a
Speaker 5: lot of the guys you saw are not going to
Speaker 5: be on this roster. That's just putting it bluntly. There's
Speaker 5: some practice squad guys, some backups, maybe second thirteen, but
Speaker 5: generally that I think more or less the guys who
Speaker 5: played on Saturday, you know, half those guys are not
Speaker 5: going to be on the roster. So you can't make
Speaker 5: any sweeping generalizations off of that. Now, what I would
Speaker 5: say is that you're looking for some flashes, looking for
Speaker 5: guys to flash, no matter who's on the field, and
Speaker 5: I didn't see enough of that at all. And and
Speaker 5: I think there were some isolated cases where you were
Speaker 5: looking for that, you know, like a mom the receivers,
Speaker 5: you know, could we see some flash there?
Speaker 4: I don't know that we did.
Speaker 5: I look at guys like Jalen touey Molau, He's played
Speaker 5: a fair amount of snaps in this preseason, and I
Speaker 5: have a lot of questions. I'm just being very honest,
Speaker 5: he has not flashed, and I think he needs to
Speaker 5: flash given who he was playing against, which is nobody.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 5: So though there are some things that you could take away,
Speaker 5: and then you mentioned the kicking situation. I do think
Speaker 5: that was productive. That was I would say I flipped
Speaker 5: my prediction based off of that game. I was leaning
Speaker 5: toward Blake groopye And if you were there in the
Speaker 5: offseason and in training camp, you felt pretty strongly Blake
Speaker 5: Groopy was ahead, and I think Straighter in two games
Speaker 5: has turned that on its head. So those are I'm
Speaker 5: just rambling out, but those are two or a few
Speaker 5: kind of takeaways I would say I had.
Speaker 1: But Steven Holder, ESPN, ESPN dot com, I'm kind enough
Speaker 1: to join us on the Anymore Automotive Group potline. Uh tuamo? Allow?
Speaker 1: Is is this a guy now that you think maybe
Speaker 1: as far as cuts are concerned, maybe in jeopardy here?
Speaker 1: Or is is he going make to roster regardless?
Speaker 4: No, he'll make it.
Speaker 5: And the reason I say that is twofold number one.
Speaker 5: He is a second round pick in his second year
Speaker 5: who only plays sparingly in year one, right, So you
Speaker 5: know we can we can you can talk yourself into
Speaker 5: the idea that, well, he didn't play that much and
Speaker 5: we haven't seen that much of him, and I think
Speaker 5: that's that's probably a fair assessment.
Speaker 4: But I think the befoar.
Speaker 5: I go on and the other the other thing at
Speaker 5: play is that they don't have a lot of proven
Speaker 5: depth at the end spot right now, so so I
Speaker 5: think he makes it just based on the circumstances, you
Speaker 5: know what I mean That being said, over the course
Speaker 5: of this season, if other guys play better than he does,
Speaker 5: I don't know that his playing time is going to
Speaker 5: go up significantly, you know. Right now, I think you're
Speaker 5: looking at a situation where you know, certainly ardent Key
Speaker 5: and Latu are your your first two guys, and then
Speaker 5: after that, I think you're looking at Michael Clemens, and
Speaker 5: then it should be Clemens and tuiy Molau should be
Speaker 5: your second wave. Right But I think if he doesn't produce, now,
Speaker 5: guys like George Gumm's come into play, the rookie out
Speaker 5: of Florida who has definitely flashed more in training camp
Speaker 5: and in the preseason games. I've seen flash from him.
Speaker 5: I've not seen it from tuy Molau, and I don't
Speaker 5: know if the Colts are ready to go there and
Speaker 5: to start talking about this publicly, I don't expect that.
Speaker 4: But I am thoroughly underwhelmed.
Speaker 5: I'm sorry, and I don't mean to pick on the kid,
Speaker 5: but he should be showing more.
Speaker 1: Where's that former teammate? Ohiouse date Kaden Curry in this
Speaker 1: equation right now coming off of Saturday.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I think he's probably not going to get
Speaker 5: a lot of playing time initially, but what's going to
Speaker 5: keep him around and I have him making the roster,
Speaker 5: what's going to keep him around is his flexibility and
Speaker 5: his ability to go in there and play on the
Speaker 5: interior on those passing downs, especially because you'd be keeping
Speaker 5: a lot of edge rushers if you keep Curry, and
Speaker 5: again I think they will, but if you if you
Speaker 5: keep him, you have to justify keeping like six edge rushers,
Speaker 5: which is a lot, right and they can all play
Speaker 5: the way you justify it. In my opinion is well, hey,
Speaker 5: he's going to be like our Taekwon Lewis light you
Speaker 5: know what I'm saying, and that means a guy who
Speaker 5: technically is a defensive end but really can be an
Speaker 5: inside outside pass rusher. I like what he did, particularly
Speaker 5: in Week one of the preseasons as an interior rusher.
Speaker 5: And if you can get a guy in there that
Speaker 5: maybe is undersized but can out quick those guards like
Speaker 5: he's done. Now, you've got a good matchup on your hands,
Speaker 5: and he's just gonn to prove that he can do
Speaker 5: it against the big guys, you know, the When I
Speaker 5: say the big guys, I mean the starting caliber players, right,
Speaker 5: And so we'll see if he gets a chance to
Speaker 5: do that against Detroit on Saturday.
Speaker 1: Stephen. I've always said this, especially during the Manning era,
Speaker 1: which was much different. We know this to be true,
Speaker 1: but we should also view it with this era of
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones. You don't hold your breath because you just
Speaker 1: feel like this there's probably some sort of injury situation
Speaker 1: waiting to jump on you around the corner. That said,
Speaker 1: where are we with the backup quarterback? Somebody had asked
Speaker 1: me earlier today if I feel the need that they
Speaker 1: need somebody of the Gardner Minshew, somebody you can count
Speaker 1: on a little bit more, And I just said, listen
Speaker 1: to me, that's not going to happen. And that's not
Speaker 1: even a thought. It's going to be you know, either
Speaker 1: one of these guys to back up one of these
Speaker 1: guys to back up, if not both these guys on
Speaker 1: the roster. But where are we with the backup quality
Speaker 1: quarterback category with this group? Because I know it's ultimately
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones or nothing right here as far as the
Speaker 1: success of this team is concerned. But knowing there's probably
Speaker 1: going to be some injury situation down the road, where
Speaker 1: are we at the backup position right now? Are further
Speaker 1: where are you with it?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I would say I think they'll both be here, Riley
Speaker 5: Leonard and Anthony Richardson. And personally, I mean I lean
Speaker 5: very strongly for Anthony Richardson. I think it's Look, it's
Speaker 5: a different conversation than whether you like him as a starter.
Speaker 5: I think the people who who are on that train
Speaker 5: about like, hey, this, get this guy out of here.
Speaker 5: He shouldn't be our quarterback. Okay, that's fine, But that's
Speaker 5: a different conversation. We are talking about number two, and
Speaker 5: at number two, I would say this is this is.
Speaker 4: How I would view this.
Speaker 5: If Daniel Jones has an ankle twist or something and
Speaker 5: misses a start, God forbid, Okay, but these things happen
Speaker 5: all the time. If he has a bum ankle and
Speaker 5: can't play. Just for instance. Now take the other team
Speaker 5: that you're playing that week. Who are they most worried
Speaker 5: about playing Anthony Richardson or Riley Leonard. I think with
Speaker 5: Riley Leonard, you're gonna run a conventional offense. It's doesn't
Speaker 5: mean that you can't win with that, but I think
Speaker 5: they they're preparing for a standard fear game plan. Right
Speaker 5: With Anthony Richardson, you got wrinkles, and if it's a
Speaker 5: one game situation. In particular, I think if you're the
Speaker 5: defensive coordinator, it's given you some fits because you got
Speaker 5: to prepare for a lot of possibilities and you've just
Speaker 5: got to prepare for the athlete that he is. So
Speaker 5: I think it's pretty obvious to me. You take the
Speaker 5: guy with the pedigree, who maybe does some bonehead stuff sometimes,
Speaker 5: but I mean he can make you right even when
Speaker 5: the player is wrong. I mean we saw that on
Speaker 5: Saturday with a joke of an offensive line playing in
Speaker 5: front of him and from both guys frankly, So that's
Speaker 5: what I would say.
Speaker 1: So as far as the offensive line is concerned, the
Speaker 1: starters are edged. Do we know that, But what do
Speaker 1: you think about the depth, because that was my overwhelming
Speaker 1: thought on Saturday. Yes, a lot of guys that aren't
Speaker 1: going to be playing with this team, but it is
Speaker 1: still very easy and I think appropriate to look at
Speaker 1: and to be critical of the lack of depth. What
Speaker 1: about that depth along the offensive line?
Speaker 4: You are correct to be concerned.
Speaker 5: Now, I would say Farmer, they feel good about the
Speaker 5: draft pick, and they should right, he is going to
Speaker 5: be the first guard off the bench. They see him
Speaker 5: as a future starter more than likely, you know, depending
Speaker 5: on what happens contractually with some of those guys.
Speaker 4: So I think you'll.
Speaker 5: See him be sort of etchedon stone as their first
Speaker 5: interior offensive lineman off the bench. But you cannot have
Speaker 5: watched training camp and the preseason and not at some
Speaker 5: point said to yourself, what the hell is going on
Speaker 5: with these snaps? The center position is a problem, right,
Speaker 5: BORDERLINI better play all seventeen or I think the other
Speaker 5: alternative is you see a waiver claim there with somebody
Speaker 5: who can snap the freaking ball, because they have had
Speaker 5: just an atrocious situation with the lack of consistency with
Speaker 5: the shotgun snaps, and I mean some of it has
Speaker 5: been on Richardson and to a lesser extent Riley Leonard.
Speaker 5: But but I would say the overwhelming majority. Particularly lately,
Speaker 5: Richardson has kind of straightened out his issues that he
Speaker 5: had earlier in camp games. Man, it has been the
Speaker 5: snapping has been a problem. It's a real problem, a
Speaker 5: legitimate issue. So they got to figure that out. Do
Speaker 5: they make a waiver claim, find somebody on the street.
Speaker 5: I don't know, but I don't feel good about that.
Speaker 5: And then at offensive tackle, the depth is not great
Speaker 5: there either, and in fact it's so much so that
Speaker 5: I think most of us around the team kind of
Speaker 5: assume if they have an offensive tackle injury, what they
Speaker 5: would do is is move Farmer into the starting lineup
Speaker 5: at guard and put Gunsalves at offensive tackle because he
Speaker 5: has played it in college and is a competent offensive tackle.
Speaker 5: I think that's what they would do, which is the
Speaker 5: right decision, but it just goes to show you they
Speaker 5: don't have a better option than to move an existing
Speaker 5: player to offensive tackle. That would be their their fallback option.
Speaker 5: So I think they're on the lookout for offensive line
Speaker 5: depth at tackle and center.
Speaker 1: Steven Holder is with us. I kind of bury the
Speaker 1: lead a little bit here. What are we making of
Speaker 1: the Chivarius Ward situation is it's a lot to do
Speaker 1: about nothing and he is going to be good to
Speaker 1: go in a week number one? Or should there be
Speaker 1: major concern?
Speaker 4: Major concern? I don't know.
Speaker 5: But what concern is fine? Some concern because ultimately he's
Speaker 5: not out there now. I would say, like the devil's advocate.
Speaker 4: I don't know if that's the right term here.
Speaker 5: But on the other the flip side would be this,
Speaker 5: if he has any sort of discomfort, I think he's
Speaker 5: so important to their fortunes that you just tell him, hey, buddy,
Speaker 5: have a seat, and you let us know when you
Speaker 5: feel okay, which has nothing to do with whether he
Speaker 5: can play on opening day. That just means don't put
Speaker 5: him out there if he's not one hundred percent, because
Speaker 5: I think he's a vet, he's he's been there a lot, like,
Speaker 5: don't force it right, don't tempt faith. So I want
Speaker 5: to believe that is what you are seeing, because if
Speaker 5: that's the case, then no harm, no foul, and everybody's
Speaker 5: gonna be fine. But we don't know that to be
Speaker 5: the case. I would I'll be honest, I don't have
Speaker 5: enough concrete information about what's going on with him to
Speaker 5: confidently say that's what you're seeing that Shavarisward's gonna be fine.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I can't say that because I don't know that. So
Speaker 5: I think until we know more, you know, you just
Speaker 5: kind of have.
Speaker 4: To keep an open mind. You know, this thing could
Speaker 4: be one or the other.
Speaker 5: I don't know, and that's troubling because not knowing is
Speaker 5: problematic because I think he is so important to their
Speaker 5: fortunes this thing. For it to work, you've got to
Speaker 5: be solid at corner. And then with Cam Taylor Britt
Speaker 5: being suspended for week one, that is an added level
Speaker 5: of concern that you have because you are already I think
Speaker 5: beyond him. I hate the cornerback depth right now, like
Speaker 5: I hate it. So I think you got four corners.
Speaker 5: You got Sauce, Mooney, Ward, Justin Wally, and Cam Taylor Britt.
Speaker 4: I suppose.
Speaker 5: So you've got four corners that I feel good about
Speaker 5: putting out there on the field. The rest of those guys,
Speaker 5: if you swapped them all out, I would be fine
Speaker 5: with it.
Speaker 1: Franklin, which out of that group you think won't be
Speaker 1: a part of his team? And it's interesting there were
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago and everybody felt really good
Speaker 1: about Jalen Jones. That is clearly no longer the case.
Speaker 5: So that's an interesting one because I actually think he
Speaker 5: has had some flashes even in camp. He's had some
Speaker 5: bad moments in camp, but they all have to be honest,
Speaker 5: those backup guys, and I think, you know, people have
Speaker 5: seen him make a few plays here in the preseason,
Speaker 5: but the guy is the guy has talent, and he
Speaker 5: has length, and he has attributes.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 5: The problem there is is the Colts feel it feels,
Speaker 5: at least like they're pretty dug dug in on him
Speaker 5: not being a fit for the scheme that they run.
Speaker 4: And that's that might be true.
Speaker 5: He is definitely he definitely thrived in the zone scheme
Speaker 5: that thus Bradley ran.
Speaker 4: That's true, and he was drafted for that, so that's fair.
Speaker 5: But I also think at the end of the day,
Speaker 5: it boils down to are the other guys playing better?
Speaker 5: And I don't know if that's true, you know, So
Speaker 5: I don't know if it's enough to flip that equation
Speaker 5: because they haven't really given this kid the time of
Speaker 5: day since lou Anna Rum has gotten here. I think
Speaker 5: it's pretty obvious they've been over backwards to not play him. So,
Speaker 5: I mean, Makai Blackman has basically done everything he can
Speaker 5: to get cut asn't so all I can tell you
Speaker 5: is is that they seem really stuck on Jones, really
Speaker 5: not being a fit for what they want to do.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: I think that's a that's going to be a waiver wire,
Speaker 5: a potential river, a wired target. I think is that
Speaker 5: that fifth and sixth cornerback. I would look for that
Speaker 5: to be in play.
Speaker 1: What is so far to you, Steven? The world, the
Speaker 1: post Zaire Franklin world of Colts linebackers look like to
Speaker 1: this point.
Speaker 4: It's an adventure.
Speaker 5: It's an adventure because say what you want about Zire Franklin,
Speaker 5: but at least I knew who the hell the starting
Speaker 5: linebackers were going to be.
Speaker 4: I don't know that right now.
Speaker 5: And if I'm being honest, I don't know if the
Speaker 5: Colts know now today. In fact, lou Anarumo said we
Speaker 5: are going to play a lot of linebackers at least
Speaker 5: early in the season, which is code for we're just
Speaker 5: going to be situational, you know. I think they're going
Speaker 5: to play c J. Allen and situations where he's comfortable.
Speaker 5: But they've also admitted that or an Aruma admitted that
Speaker 5: him missing a lot of time here in the preseason,
Speaker 5: it is problematic. It's not nothing. He's missed a lot
Speaker 5: of time in the lineup in practice for a guy
Speaker 5: who's at an important spot and is a rookie. Right, So,
Speaker 5: I mean it seems right now that in fact, I'm
Speaker 5: not sure Alan's.
Speaker 4: Gonna be the starter anymore, at least initially.
Speaker 5: And I don't think it's I don't think it's necessarily
Speaker 5: an indictment of him. I just think it's just the
Speaker 5: reality is that they haven't had a chance to really
Speaker 5: get him up to speed because.
Speaker 4: He hasn't had enough time in the lineup.
Speaker 5: So that's an interesting change, and I think that speaks
Speaker 5: to where they are because I would say, coming out
Speaker 5: of the draft and an OTAs, they basually plopped him
Speaker 5: down in the middle of the defense and said you're
Speaker 5: the guy. And now they've backed off of that. That
Speaker 5: is pretty startling, I would say. And then I guess
Speaker 5: beyond that, you know, you have to see I would
Speaker 5: say a Keen Davis gaither you know, I don't know
Speaker 5: a lot about this guy. I'm just being honest, but
Speaker 5: he's at least experienced, and I think his veteran status
Speaker 5: is giving him a little bit of a benefit of
Speaker 5: the doubt.
Speaker 4: You've got.
Speaker 5: Carlis is actually coming on Jalen. Carlis Is actually has
Speaker 5: actually come a long way.
Speaker 4: I was very I guess what's the word. I was
Speaker 4: very disinvested in Jalen Carli's coming into this.
Speaker 5: But you know, the cream rises to the top, and
Speaker 5: he has been good to give him, to give him
Speaker 5: his due here. So I think he's in the mix.
Speaker 5: You know that he could be in that starting lineup
Speaker 5: to start the season.
Speaker 1: The Keidan Allen signing that will allow the Coat to
Speaker 1: to do what who Who's going to lose a gig
Speaker 1: because of that signing last week?
Speaker 4: Well, I think it's one for one.
Speaker 5: It's Lakwan Treadwill for me, they at least based on
Speaker 5: the way I had it pretted. I had Treadwill as
Speaker 5: the sixth wide receiver and and if that's the case,
Speaker 5: then I think you bump him. And and now it's
Speaker 5: allan so which is very convenient because he wears number thirteen,
Speaker 5: which which uh which Alan wants, right so that might
Speaker 5: work out for him.
Speaker 4: So that's the way I see that.
Speaker 5: But there is that that return kicking punt returner position,
Speaker 5: and that's still sort of influx. I am leaning toward
Speaker 5: coleman Owen a lot of people in my roster projection
Speaker 5: excuse Me, which which posted on ESPN dot com today,
Speaker 5: I got a little grief from people about cutting Deon
Speaker 5: Burks the seventh round pick, and I really think that's
Speaker 5: based upon just the lack of consistency I saw from
Speaker 5: him in training camp. There's no question that that coleman
Speaker 5: Owen was much more consistent in training camp for me. Now, dude,
Speaker 5: well what Burks has done in the games outwaigh?
Speaker 4: That I don't know. I mean, he's done, He's flashed
Speaker 4: a little bit. Is it enough? I don't know.
Speaker 5: But I thought he was very very underwhelming in training camp,
Speaker 5: which is not which is I'm not you know, crapping
Speaker 5: on a on the kiddemy. He's a seventh round pick, right,
Speaker 5: and this was a project right, how is.
Speaker 4: A speedy guy from Oklahoma?
Speaker 5: How's he dropped to the seventh round because he was
Speaker 5: a very raw prospect. It was very clear to everybody
Speaker 5: in the draft. I wondered why, and then I saw
Speaker 5: it in training camp and I was like, well, this
Speaker 5: guy's just not ready. Every day I would say it.
Speaker 5: He had chance after chance, he never did it. So
Speaker 5: we'll see. They want to like him, and we'll see
Speaker 5: if he's done enough here pretty soon.
Speaker 1: Steven Older of ESPN and ESPN dot Com is on
Speaker 1: the Andy Morrill out of on the group podline. What's
Speaker 1: going to be the viewpoint of what we see coming
Speaker 1: up on Saturday in that final preseason game against Detroit.
Speaker 5: I'm interested to see how Steichen approaches this. I mean,
Speaker 5: they don't have joint practices this week, so you could
Speaker 5: you could theoretically talk yourself into playing some starters. I mean,
Speaker 5: they haven't done anything in preseason games so far. Does
Speaker 5: that concern me? Does that bother me? Not a lot.
Speaker 5: You know, they've had three joint practices. They went hard,
Speaker 5: they did a lot, very competitive. I liked what I
Speaker 5: saw from them, So I think that matters, you know,
Speaker 5: a great deal. But I but I think it would
Speaker 5: be nice maybe to see that offense for a series
Speaker 5: or two, in the defense for a series or two.
Speaker 5: I mean, I think there's value in that, you know,
Speaker 5: But I don't expect Daniel Jones to play. I know
Speaker 5: he would love to, but I just don't see that happening.
Speaker 5: I think there's like a zero point one percent chance.
Speaker 4: Of him playing.
Speaker 5: So so that's that's what I envisioned. And and what
Speaker 5: is going to be interesting. If Jones doesn't play and
Speaker 5: the starters do, then how do they handle quarterback?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 5: Who who is under center with that starting offensive line?
Speaker 5: Which is, you know something neither guy has had a chance.
Speaker 5: Neither of the backup quarterbacks have had a chance to
Speaker 5: do this preseason. So a couple of interesting things to
Speaker 5: look at and we'll see how they how they go.
Speaker 1: So, how many of these Colt players are playing in
Speaker 1: this softball game tonight?
Speaker 5: Well, I'll let you know if I ever get through
Speaker 5: this traffic and get there. But I don't know who's playing,
Speaker 5: but I would say I know Alec Pierce eight playing.
Speaker 4: That was made.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Alec Pierce, he went out. I was in
Speaker 1: touchdown town for the pregame show. He came out and
Speaker 1: introduced his dad's and uncles band. So I thought, there's
Speaker 1: zero way he's not participating in week number one. If
Speaker 1: he's doing that.
Speaker 5: I feel pretty yes, I don't want to say pretty confident,
Speaker 5: but I feel relatively confident he's going to be fine.
Speaker 5: I think this could be the week. I think there's
Speaker 5: a shot. I think there's a shot, and now it's
Speaker 5: probably gonna be He's probably gonna be very limited. I
Speaker 5: don't know if he's in shape, certainly not football shape, right,
Speaker 5: So I don't know what you're gonna get from him
Speaker 5: when he gets out there. But I do think. Do
Speaker 5: think he's close. I really do. And I haven't gotten
Speaker 5: any bad vibes. I saw him the other in the
Speaker 5: locker room and he's in very very good spirits. The
Speaker 5: other thing I would say, and I've been repeating this
Speaker 5: for whatever it's worth, we were told by Alec four
Speaker 5: to six months this week. In fact, roughly this week
Speaker 5: later this week is the five month mark. So he's
Speaker 5: well within the timeline, you know. And I think it's nervous.
Speaker 5: It makes people nervous because the season is upcoming. That
Speaker 5: is fine, I get that, But if you're talking about
Speaker 5: it from the perspective of like, what's there a setback?
Speaker 5: Is he behind schedule? That is not true. That is
Speaker 5: one thousand percent not true. So he's on schedule. The
Speaker 5: only question is is he going to make it back
Speaker 5: in time? And it does appear he's closer, so I
Speaker 5: think you can feel relatively good about it. But until
Speaker 5: he's out there, until we see how he plays and
Speaker 5: performs in practice at least, then you don't necessarily have
Speaker 5: complete peace of mind.
Speaker 4: So that's the other piece of that.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go out there later off tonight and watched
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones debut and softball right, he's gonna be running
Speaker 1: around everywhere, correct.
Speaker 4: You know I played in that. You remember when Robert
Speaker 4: Mathis used to do one of these.
Speaker 1: I did, Yeah, I did. I was out there once too.
Speaker 5: Yes, So Robert, you know, big fan of mine, as
Speaker 5: you can imagine, depending on the day, he hated my
Speaker 5: guts And I actually went up to hit one time
Speaker 5: and he was pitching and he had a smile from
Speaker 5: air to air, and I was like, he's definitely gonna
Speaker 5: take my head off, but he didn't, and I made
Speaker 5: contact and I had a liner right too. Do you
Speaker 5: remember Chester Rogers wide receiver. I had a liner to
Speaker 5: Chester Rogers and he snagged the damn thing like it
Speaker 5: was nothing.
Speaker 4: I was like, hey man, what the hell? I was
Speaker 4: getting ready? To run the bases, but probably for the better,
Speaker 4: so it worked out art.
Speaker 1: So here here's one. I was there and I was
Speaker 1: not in the game at the time, and I took
Speaker 1: my son, who was much younger Blake with me, and
Speaker 1: he was I think probably I can't remember, six or
Speaker 1: seven or something. And there was a ball that was
Speaker 1: hit to shortstop and thrown and it went over the
Speaker 1: head of the first basement and Andrew luck caught it
Speaker 1: right before it went into the dugout to hit my kid.
Speaker 4: That's great, That's amazing.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I always tell Blake it had been better
Speaker 1: off if that thing would have hit you. We should
Speaker 1: just let it hit you, got right through you and
Speaker 1: hit you.
Speaker 5: So yeah, taking money out of your pocket.
Speaker 1: Hell of a moment right there, man. It was Hey,
Speaker 1: safe travels hopefully expeditiously getting to that event at Victory Field,
Speaker 1: and we'll catch it next week and hopefully we got
Speaker 1: a little bit more entertaining performance to watch against the
Speaker 1: Lions on Saturday.
Speaker 4: Let's hope.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, pal, Thank you be careful, Okay. Steven
Speaker 1: Holder of ESPN on espn dot com