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Speaker 1: Man, I'm watching you sit again. Don't think that I'm not.

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Speaker 2: What O seven on a Monday afternoon, Dave sinecon and

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Speaker 2: for the common Man today with you till three o'clock.

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Speaker 1: Alec Lewis.

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Speaker 2: Joins at three and will host the Bumper to Bumper

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Speaker 2: program for one hour. Vikings Rewind follows at four o'clock,

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Speaker 2: and then the World Juniors USA versus Slovakia on the

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Speaker 2: fan with Zach Halverson on the call.

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Speaker 1: That's at five o'clock.

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Speaker 2: We'll have first half or so of Monday Night football

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Speaker 2: Rams Falcons and then Wild against the Vegas Golden Knights

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Speaker 2: at nine o'clock and we will chat maybe a little

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Speaker 2: next segment about the Wolves and Wild in action. Tonight,

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Speaker 2: I want to continue our NFL conversation and what we

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Speaker 2: saw in week seventeen and what looks like the big

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Speaker 2: matchups four week eighteen. We know the final game on

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Speaker 2: the docket will be the AFC North battle between the

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Speaker 2: Ravens and Steelers. All Pittsburgh had to do was go

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Speaker 2: in to Cleveland and win and they would have won

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Speaker 2: the AFC North, but that didn't happen. They fell to

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Speaker 2: Cleveland thirteen to six. Aaron Rodgers did not get sacked

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Speaker 2: by Miles Garrett, so the sack record is still in play.

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Speaker 2: It's funny how the Browns complained afterwards that they cared

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Speaker 2: more about preventing Miles from getting the record than winning

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Speaker 2: the football game. Well, basically, Cleveland has one player, so

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Speaker 2: if you don't think they're going to focus on just

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Speaker 2: making sure that Garrett doesn't erect the game, that seemed

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Speaker 2: a little sour creepy to me. But bottom line is

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Speaker 2: that paves the way for one of the great rivalries

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Speaker 2: of last twenty years, Steelers Ravens in what could be

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Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers' final game. I think a lot of us

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Speaker 2: would love to see Baltimore go into Pittsburgh and end

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Speaker 2: things once and for all. I don't really see a

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Speaker 2: scenario where Aaron Rodgers comes back next season, do you, Brett?

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Speaker 1: Unless I think he's done. Unless the Vikings come.

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Speaker 2: Calling and say, you know, we thought about it, we

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Speaker 2: ended up going to another direction. But you know, JJ

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Speaker 2: loves you and we'd love to have you for you know,

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Speaker 2: a Swans moan. But no, I think he's done.

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Speaker 3: I think once we saw him injured with his hand

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Speaker 3: in his broken nose, all bandage on the sideline in

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Speaker 3: the freezing cold. After I saw that picture, I'm like,

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Speaker 3: he's got to be done, and he said it's probably

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Speaker 3: going to be it. After that, I would be stunned

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Speaker 3: if he came back.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I would as well. Think about this. The Pittsburgh

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Speaker 2: Steelers have a chance to reach the playoffs. Yet in

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Speaker 2: the last five games they've played against a team that

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Speaker 2: is eight or more games under five hundred, they're four

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Speaker 2: and one, that ties for the longest streak in NFL history,

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Speaker 2: and that's a team that might be in the postseason.

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's one thing to not get up for

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Speaker 2: bad teams, but to go oh, four and one against

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Speaker 2: teams that are at least eight games below five hundred,

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Speaker 2: that's the dregs of the league. That is the Browns.

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Speaker 2: I didn't look at the teams that that comprises, necessarily,

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Speaker 2: but that's not.

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Speaker 1: A team that is going to do anything in the postseason.

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Speaker 3: You shouldn't have to look at it, No, I really shouldn't.

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Speaker 2: Whereas you know, whoever is going to be the five

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Speaker 2: seed in the AFC, whether it's the Chargers or the Texans,

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Speaker 2: I think most likely top of my head, if they

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Speaker 2: have the choice of going into Pittsburgh or going into

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Speaker 2: Baltimore for their wild card round. No one's raising their

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Speaker 2: hand and saying I'll go into Baltimore right now. Green

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Speaker 2: Bay certainly made Baltimore look a little better than they

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Speaker 2: are on Saturday night because they have not looked good.

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Speaker 2: They blew a game the week before to New England.

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Speaker 2: Kudos to them, they were one and five and they're

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Speaker 2: on the doorstep of the playoffs. But Aaron Rodgers, you

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Speaker 2: know whose top two receivers were he was thrown to

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Speaker 2: yesterday MVS and Adam Theelen.

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Speaker 1: Those no offense to those guys.

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Speaker 2: But this is a team fighting for a division championship

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Speaker 2: and their top two wide receivers on the depth chart

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Speaker 2: are Mark Weiz Valdez Scantling and Adam Thielen.

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Speaker 3: Like trying to win an NFC North in twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 3: it's about it, basically.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, if we could move back the clock and even still,

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Speaker 2: I mean MBS has always been kind of a borderline

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Speaker 2: NFL player, But that'll be a great scene at what

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Speaker 2: was it now Assurance Field in Pittsburgh.

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Speaker 1: It's always hint.

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Speaker 2: It's always the big ketchup bottle to me, Baltimore is

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Speaker 2: a three point favorite at Pittsburgh. And if you know

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Speaker 2: anything about betting on the NFL, one of the great

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Speaker 2: sayings is when Pittsburgh and Baltimore meet, you take the

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Speaker 2: underdog and you just don't even think about it. No

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Speaker 2: one's going to back the Steelers, right. Everyone that bets

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Speaker 2: on football is going to be on Baltimore for this game.

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Speaker 2: And when Mike Toimelin's in that spot where no one

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Speaker 2: believes in his team, he always figures out a way.

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Speaker 2: So I'm not going to just assume that Baltimore is

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Speaker 2: going to go into Pittsburgh and take care of business.

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Speaker 2: I think the Steelers beat them early in the season,

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Speaker 2: and again, these teams tend to split more often than not. Well,

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Speaker 2: I'm not one that just believes Baltimore is going to

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Speaker 2: roll in on Sunday night and be coorinated just because

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Speaker 2: they look great against Green Bay.

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Speaker 3: We talked about cliches and old sayings. We have a

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Speaker 3: handful of them on the text line that we're good.

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Speaker 1: Or yeah, we're going to get to some of those.

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Speaker 3: I think this is a dusty you can use the

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Speaker 3: same time you want. When these two teams get together,

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Speaker 3: you can throw the record book out the window, and

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Speaker 3: it's just one of those rivalries where it just feels

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Speaker 3: like you'd never know what's going to happen.

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Speaker 2: I mean, that's a great cliche, but it's not necessarily

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Speaker 2: a saying I live by, Like, I don't wake up

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Speaker 2: in the morning with that to get me going. But

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Speaker 2: you're right, that is a great NFL cliche, there's no

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Speaker 2: question about that. The other huge it was several really

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Speaker 2: big games this week. We haven't talked about the Saturday

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Speaker 2: night primetime game which will determine the number one seed

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Speaker 2: to the NFC. Seattle in San Francisco, short week. I

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Speaker 2: don't know why they play Saturday games the final week

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Speaker 2: of this I do know why. Obviously, it's for money.

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Speaker 2: It's for TV money on Saturday night. I get it.

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Speaker 2: There's nothing else. There's not gonna be any college football

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Speaker 2: on Saturday, so why wouldn't the NFL take that stage?

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Speaker 2: But it just doesn't seem really fair. As it turned out,

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Speaker 2: Seattle played yesterday, correct, Yeah, Seattle played yesterday. The Niners

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Speaker 2: played yesterday, so nobody has extra rest. But it is

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Speaker 2: a short week, and for the Niners it'll be their

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Speaker 2: third game in thirteen days. So maybe a little bit

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Speaker 2: for them feeling it. They've sort of loved to have

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Speaker 2: had that extra day to play on Sunday. But there's

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Speaker 2: a game to determine the NFC's top seed. The Seattle Seahawks,

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Speaker 2: who have really ridden a great defense, and Sam Darnold

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Speaker 2: has kind of come down to earth in the last

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Speaker 2: three or four weeks, but he accomplished something it's never

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Speaker 2: been done in the National Football League. He's the first

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Speaker 2: quarterback to lead his team to thirteen plus win seasons

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Speaker 2: back to back for two different teams. Again, we talk

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Speaker 2: about if you would have told me, you know, imagine

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Speaker 2: telling somebody two years ago that Donald would hold that record.

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Speaker 2: Right again, do you know football at all?

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Speaker 4: Right?

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Speaker 2: From the Jets, Yeah, Jets slashed the guy saw ghosts slashed,

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Speaker 2: the guy who went to Carolina in San Francisco and

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Speaker 2: couldn't get on the field. That guy is going to

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Speaker 2: win thirteen games to two different teams.

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Speaker 1: Back to back.

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Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, but I mean, you know, it's pretty impressive

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Speaker 2: if you think about it, because he he kind of

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Speaker 2: gets a lot of the credit, maybe more so than

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Speaker 2: Donald maybe last year for what happened here that come

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Speaker 2: a great system great coaching. Look what Donald can become.

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Speaker 2: Well he goes to Seattle. They don't have a great

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Speaker 2: offensive coaching staff. They just hired a new coordinator.

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Speaker 1: They don't.

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Speaker 2: You know, Yes, JSN has blossomed into a top five receiver,

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Speaker 2: but their passing attack is beyond him, is nothing. Their

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Speaker 2: running game is so so that's That's got a really

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Speaker 2: good defense and that's gonna get you some wins for sure.

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Speaker 2: But Sam has looked a little bit closer to the

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Speaker 2: guy that finished down the stretch in Minnesota the last

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Speaker 2: few weeks, even yesterday. I mean, if you didn't watch

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Speaker 2: the game, twenty seven to ten, they blew out the

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Speaker 2: Panthers on the road. I don't think any team has

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Speaker 2: been better around the road than Seattle. They're certainly one

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Speaker 2: of the best. But I'm pretty sure that game was

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Speaker 2: three to three at halftime, like they they got nothing

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Speaker 2: done in that first half. I look at me like

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Speaker 2: I'm speaking Japanese all about Well.

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Speaker 3: I just made a startling discovery as we're approaching late

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Speaker 3: for a break. But have you seen the spread for

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Speaker 3: the Border Battle six and a half vikings for.

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Speaker 2: Why are you surprised by that? I mean, I know

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Speaker 2: Green Bay was terrible. But well, Green Bay is not

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Speaker 2: going to play anybody. That's that's what that's all about.

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Speaker 2: Has nothing to do with it. Well might have something

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Speaker 2: to Okay, I know, but I don't know that Green

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Speaker 2: Bay is gonna play most of their offensive linemen or

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Speaker 2: Jacobs or Watson or Dobbs. Oh my, no, I'm not

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Speaker 2: at all surprised by that. I don't expect this game

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Speaker 2: to be very competitive. Maybe I'll be surprised.

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Speaker 4: No.

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Speaker 3: I thought I thought it'd be more closer, just to

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Speaker 3: toss up of whoever's backups can be. I mean, there

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Speaker 3: were all unknown so when you lost, JJ's playing, which

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Speaker 3: he may he may.

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Speaker 2: As Kevin O'Connell just said in his press conference, when

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Speaker 2: you're looking at the last couple weeks of the season,

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Speaker 2: motivation is what you look at.

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Speaker 1: Number one.

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Speaker 2: And we talked about going into the Saturday game between

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Speaker 2: the Ravens and Packers, the Ravens season was on the line,

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Speaker 2: like they lose their dead. Green Bay had already had

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Speaker 2: their ticket punch two days ago, and that's just just

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Speaker 2: a natural letdown, like, oh okay, yeah we can lose. Yeah, sure,

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Speaker 2: we'd love to get the two or three seed and

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Speaker 2: win the North. I we'd like to think that means

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Speaker 2: a lot of these guys, but I think naturally guys

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Speaker 2: let up and same thing on Sunday. Green Bay is

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Speaker 2: going to roll in here just trying not to get hurt.

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Speaker 2: Just you know, they lost five more players for the

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Speaker 2: season Saturday night.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's just crazy.

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Speaker 2: So no, I'm not saying it's gonna be a blood bath,

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Speaker 2: because I think whoever plays for Green Bay, we'll have

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Speaker 2: some capable guys out there. You can't bench your entire

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Speaker 2: there's not enough players. You can't betch all your starters.

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Speaker 2: But no, I'm not at all surprised the Vikings are

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Speaker 2: near touchdown favorites. It feels to me as we sit

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Speaker 2: here on Monday, like a seventeen to ten game, Vikings

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Speaker 2: like just not a lot of offense. I think Green

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Speaker 2: Bay's defense will try to rebound a little bit, and

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Speaker 2: obviously Vikings offense, I don't care who quarterbacks the team.

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Speaker 2: With the state of the offensive line, it's not going

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Speaker 2: to scare anybody. So I think points are going to

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Speaker 2: be at a premium on Sunday.

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Speaker 3: I just with how the offense played last week, where

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Speaker 3: Brosmer was negative passing yards for But then again, we

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Speaker 3: just mentioned that they don't even need to pass, they

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Speaker 3: can just run against a green bay d I don't know.

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Speaker 3: It was just a little startled by it. I didn't

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Speaker 3: see the line until just now. But you're making a

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Speaker 3: lot of Nothing you're saying is wrong. If you I

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Speaker 3: was just like, whoa right now? If you want the

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Speaker 3: Packers and the points, I'll bank that for you. Just

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Speaker 3: come to Papa. I'll take it.

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Speaker 2: Let's I'm I'm sure there are. By the way, I'm

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Speaker 2: a little bitter. I should have gone three and oh

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Speaker 2: with my underdog picks and a late meaningless field goal

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Speaker 2: cost me my three.

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Speaker 1: And I'll tell you about that when we come back.

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Speaker 2: And let's preview briefly the Wild and Wolves games tonight

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Speaker 2: before we welcome Britt Robson at about one thirty five

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Speaker 2: to chat all things Wolves. After a demoralizing, embarrassing almost

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Speaker 2: as bad as the Packers' performance by the Wolves on

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Speaker 2: Saturday night against Brooklyn, that's all coming up. It's the

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Speaker 2: common Man program.

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Speaker 3: I'm the fans, teachers go above and beyond. Now it's

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Speaker 3: your turn. Do you not make your favorite teacher for

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Speaker 3: thank it? Teacher? Powered by donors choose think of it

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Speaker 3: in five thousand dollars for classroom supplies. I don't now.

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Speaker 3: iHeartRadio dot com slash teachers. iHeartRadio dot com slash teachers.

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Speaker 2: By the way, mister Blake Moore, let me know if

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Speaker 2: you want live updates on the GLA B Birmingham Bowl,

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Speaker 2: which is now being played.

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Speaker 1: I'm guessing.

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Speaker 2: I'm guesses in Birmingham, Alabama, between the Georgia Southern and

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Speaker 2: Appalachian State. Georgia Southern has a seven zero lead. Somebody

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Speaker 2: had just mentioned there's a bowl game on now. I

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Speaker 2: had no idea. I don't even know if the Gophers

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Speaker 2: won at this point, and you're just locked in on.

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Speaker 1: The rose Ball.

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Speaker 2: I'm so locked in on the college football playoffs. But

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Speaker 2: the Gopher game was entertaining. I look, it was the

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Speaker 2: rare bowl game now where you had two teams that

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Speaker 2: actually had most of their players playing.

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Speaker 1: You know, coaching staffs that care about it. Obviously.

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Speaker 2: PJ is now unbeaten at seven and zero, and Jason Eck,

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Speaker 2: the first year coaching New Mexico, turned that program around

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Speaker 2: from a three win operation, and they cared and it showed.

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Speaker 1: It was an entertaining game.

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Speaker 2: It was a game that the Gophers lead fourteen to six,

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Speaker 2: take the lead to go up eight, and they immediately

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Speaker 2: let a kickoff return Gopher a touchdown and a two

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Speaker 2: point version, and now it's tied, and now we're going

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Speaker 2: to overtime, and uh, you know, is it Jalen Smith,

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Speaker 2: the wide receiver who scored both touchdowns. Both were beautiful catches,

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Speaker 2: the second one spectacular to win that game in overtime,

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Speaker 2: it was It's it's very fashionable to go.

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Speaker 1: These games mean nothing.

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Speaker 2: And for the most part, it's true because if you're

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Speaker 2: not playing in the college football Playoff, most of your

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Speaker 2: either draft eligible players or soon to be transferring players

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Speaker 2: are not going to play in the games, and so

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Speaker 2: most of these games are not watchable. I'm just going

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Speaker 2: to go out on a limb and say the j

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Speaker 2: L A B Birmingham Bull is going to be an

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Speaker 2: unwatchable game. Now, maybe these are two teams that do

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Speaker 2: care and their players aren't leaving and it's going to

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Speaker 2: be competitive, but yeah, I had no I just switched

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Speaker 2: it from ESPN too, which I didn't realize I was

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Speaker 2: on to ESPN because well, because football.

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Speaker 1: It's a game, exactly, and I'm sitting here till three o'clock.

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Speaker 3: So while I'm watching the World Juniors from grank Cino

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Speaker 3: Arena right now, Sweden's put it on Germany? Are they

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Speaker 3: over in St?

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Speaker 1: Paul? What? What network is carrying.

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Speaker 3: That NHL network?

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Speaker 1: Oh?

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Speaker 3: Very good, which you were flabbergast at a couple weeks

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Speaker 3: ago you didn't even know existed.

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Speaker 2: I was surprised an NHL network. It's a regional network, correct,

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Speaker 2: is it just like for the Midwest?

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Speaker 3: And then you get it on most cable service and

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Speaker 3: you know, yeah, they probably probably have it on you.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure I do.

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Speaker 2: They probably pay you to include it so they can

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Speaker 2: just add the subscription list and make it a more

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Speaker 2: August list.

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Speaker 1: A kid, A kid.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of the NHL, you're while they're back in action

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Speaker 2: tonight in Las Vegas to take on the Golden Knights,

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Speaker 2: fresh off a thrilling overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets.

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Speaker 2: We chatted a bit about that over the weekend.

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Speaker 1: That was, you know, I.

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Speaker 2: Gave you a little something to feel good about after

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Speaker 2: watching your favorite football team on Saturday night. But give

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Speaker 2: us an update on your favorite squad as they head

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Speaker 2: down to a Sin City tonight.

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Speaker 3: That was a very good consolation prize. No, they're they're

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Speaker 3: playing well. I did read from La Panta the play

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Speaker 3: by play vox.

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Speaker 1: I'm aware on Anthony Sports.

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Speaker 3: Marqu Sorry, I had to talk down to you after

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Speaker 3: the first hour.

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Speaker 1: Fair enough. What's a power play again? Hockey?

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Speaker 3: That is hockey. There's a penalty box hooking, slashing, real

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Speaker 3: Lapanthera said, it looks like eure Off is getting moved

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Speaker 3: back up to the top line to play with caprice

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Speaker 3: Off and Zucarello. Two thumbs up from the producer on

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Speaker 3: that one. Okay, but I like the way that they're playing.

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Speaker 3: The win in Winnipeg was just such a rousing. It

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Speaker 3: was the exact opposite of what we saw with our football.

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Speaker 3: It was a rousing. It got you up. Just a

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Speaker 3: stupid penalty from Winnipeg, just cross checking Eric Snack nowhere

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Speaker 3: near not even the same zip code. I mean he

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Speaker 3: was in Alberta from the puck, and you get the

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Speaker 3: power play. Quin Hughes gets the assist, Zucarella gets the

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Speaker 3: goal to tie it with like twenty some seconds left,

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Speaker 3: and then tick tech toe caprice Off to Hughes to

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Speaker 3: Boldie for the winner. I mean that's what you envisioned

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Speaker 3: when you trade for a guy like Hughes. He's got

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Speaker 3: he's a point of game. Since he's been on the Wild,

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Speaker 3: he plays like damn near half the game and things

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Speaker 3: like twenty seven minutes of Ice Seinberg game. So I

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Speaker 3: love the way they're playing. I love the way they're rolling.

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Speaker 1: I'm still on tic tac toe? Is that a hockey thing?

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Speaker 1: I liked that. I've never heard of that before.

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Speaker 3: You never heard no, Yeah, a little three passing play?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: I love that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's fun. It's a fun time.

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Speaker 2: Can we use that in basketball? It's more of the

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Speaker 2: triangle offense? I think, yeah, yeah, that's all. I like

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Speaker 2: the tic tac toe? All right, So Wild v. The

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Speaker 2: Golden Knights tonight nine o'clock. You'll hear it on the fan.

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Speaker 2: If you want to listen to the Timberwolves, you can

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Speaker 2: do that too on the free iHeartRadio app. Just find

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Speaker 2: the Timberwolves channel and you will hear Wolves and Bulls

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Speaker 2: as Minnesota heads out on a.

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Speaker 1: Three game road trip.

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Speaker 2: They'll close out the calendar year in Chicago tonight and

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Speaker 2: at Atlanta on New Year's eve Day. It's I have

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Speaker 2: to take a two o'clock start, and I caught the

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Speaker 2: very end of PA's show. I was sitting next to

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Speaker 2: Nordo and he was talking about, you know, Kobe White

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Speaker 2: for the Bulls is a point guard who you know

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Speaker 2: a lot of Wolves fans are kind of rubbing their hands, thinking, oh,

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Speaker 2: would that be a nice solution to the point guard problem.

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Speaker 2: The problem is he's a free agent after the season.

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Speaker 2: He wants to get paid. I don't know that he's

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Speaker 2: a likely trade partner because it would be a rental

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Speaker 2: player unless you knew you could sign him long term.

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Speaker 2: And I don't know that they have the money or

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Speaker 2: the interest to do that. But that's the kind of player.

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Speaker 2: If they are looking to upgrade a point guard, I

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Speaker 2: would love to see them get And if you don't

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Speaker 2: see Kobe White play a lot, because why would you

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Speaker 2: watch the Bulls play. Tonight's game, which you can also

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Speaker 2: watch on the fan, Duel Sports Network will give you

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Speaker 2: a look at him and Josh Gidey a really talented backcourt.

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Speaker 2: We'll see if the Wolves defense can improve at least

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Speaker 2: one notch over what they showed against Brooklyn, which was

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Speaker 2: horrendous and allowed them to do whatever they wanted. Sixty

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Speaker 2: six points in the paint. Forty six points in the

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Speaker 2: paint in the first half just a miserable effort. For me,

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Speaker 2: watching that effort and the Packers' effort in the same

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Speaker 2: night was just a double gut punch. It was ugly.

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Speaker 2: Speaking of point guards, that Wolves will head to Atlanta

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Speaker 2: on Wednesday to face the Hawks, who just today I

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Speaker 2: saw some reports that there now open to looking at

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Speaker 2: dealing Tray Young. Now you have my attention, and you've

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Speaker 2: got Trent Tucker's attention, because that's yes, that's the guy

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Speaker 2: Trent's been thinking about for a couple of years for

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Speaker 2: this team. He he just dreams about an aunt Trey

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Speaker 2: Young backcourt. You know, people don't maybe see a lot

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Speaker 2: of Trey Young. He led the league and assists a

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Speaker 2: couple of years ago. He would be, to me an

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Speaker 2: ideal a backcourt partner to Anthony Edwards. And although Anthony's

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Speaker 2: been pretty much unlocked already offensively, that would do even

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Speaker 2: more to take those ball handling responsibilities away from Anthony Edwards.

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Speaker 2: And there is some you know, worry with Trey Young.

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Speaker 2: You know, he's not been a winner, he's been injury prone.

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Speaker 2: Not sure how great a leader he is, But I

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Speaker 2: don't know in this environment how great of a leader

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Speaker 2: he would have to be. And I don't know what

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Speaker 2: you'd have to give up for Trey Young, And I

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Speaker 2: haven't looked at his contract situation. He makes a lot

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Speaker 2: of money. You're gonna have to give up, you know,

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Speaker 2: whether it's you know, Randall, Reid, McDaniels, one of those guys.

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Speaker 2: And I don't want it to be Jayden, but salary

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Speaker 2: has to follow salary. They got a match or me close.

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Speaker 2: So that's still pipe dream stuff. But if you are

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Speaker 2: dreaming about a point guard, the wolves next two opponents

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Speaker 2: both have point guards that are likely going to be

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Speaker 2: in different places next season. This is a big couple

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Speaker 2: games for Minnesota just because the way the last two

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Speaker 2: games went. You know, they beat the Knicks earlier last week,

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Speaker 2: they're sitting there and I think twenty and ten and

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Speaker 2: you know, feeling really good about taking down the Knicks,

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Speaker 2: even though they didn't have Jalen Brunson, the Wolves didn't

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Speaker 2: have Jayden, you know, beating the thunder not that you know,

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Speaker 2: a couple of days earlier, things were looking really good

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Speaker 2: and then there's no harm or you know, shame and

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Speaker 2: losing at Denver that's a really good team. But man,

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Speaker 2: you go up nine points to start overtime, you'd like

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Speaker 2: to think you can hang on there, and djok Yokis did,

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Speaker 2: but Yokic does and took over that game.

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Speaker 1: But then they followed it up.

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Speaker 2: It's just such a putrid home performance that you just

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Speaker 2: saw coming from a mile away. You know, Brooklyn has

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Speaker 2: a tear rible records, not going to get the Wolves attention,

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Speaker 2: but they've been the best defensive team in the league

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Speaker 2: in December.

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Speaker 1: They've been winning games in December.

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Speaker 2: They seem to have figured things out, and the Wolves

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Speaker 2: didn't take them seriously, and that's been a problem for

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Speaker 2: this team for a long long time. And yes, they

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Speaker 2: beat up on a lot of those teams early in

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Speaker 2: the season, but they're starting to fall back into some

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Speaker 2: old bad habits. And taking care of the Bulls and

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Speaker 2: Hawks on the road to close out the calendar year,

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Speaker 2: I think would be really important as they look ahead

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Speaker 2: to what they face ahead of them in the Western Conference.

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Speaker 1: Let's chat more Wolves.

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Speaker 2: Let's bring in one of my favorite chroniclers of the Timberwolves,

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Speaker 2: Ritt Robson, who's long time covered this team for various outlets,

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Speaker 2: currently writing for Minpost dot com. Britt joins us next

435
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:47,280
Speaker 2: to talk Wolves and all things NBA on The common

436
00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 2: Man program.

437
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:52,720
Speaker 3: I'm the Fans, Join the Fans, Corey Cove tonight Willie

438
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,600
Speaker 3: McCoy's Ramsey. Of course, like hockey night job by starting

439
00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,400
Speaker 3: at seven pm to catch Minnesota take on Vegas ice

440
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:02,720
Speaker 3: Cold corse LFE specials. Play trivia for your chance to

441
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,879
Speaker 3: win great prizes, including sweet tickets to a game in January.

442
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:08,560
Speaker 3: Full details now kafan dot com. He recount.

443
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,640
Speaker 2: Hilo back one thirty seven on a Monday afternoon. Dave

444
00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,920
Speaker 2: sinnecon in for The common Man on this Monday. About

445
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:28,159
Speaker 2: halfway through, Alex Lewis takes over at three for a

446
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 2: truncated one hour version of the Bumper to Bumper Show,

447
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,560
Speaker 2: before we go to Wild Vikings Rewind, then USA versus

448
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,200
Speaker 2: Slovakia World Juniors on the Fan at five o'clock, Wild

449
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,600
Speaker 2: Hockey later tonight at nine. With all that hockey coming up,

450
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,160
Speaker 2: it feels like we need to talk some hoops, which

451
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:45,919
Speaker 2: I love to do and I always love to chat with.

452
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,840
Speaker 2: Our next guest, Britt Robson kind enough to join us.

453
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,440
Speaker 2: He covers the Wolves now for Minpost dot com. Happy holidays,

454
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,639
Speaker 2: A early happy New Year, Brick. Glad to have you

455
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:55,159
Speaker 2: on today.

456
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:56,800
Speaker 4: Yeah, same to you.

457
00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,560
Speaker 2: So the last we watched the timber Walls. First, for me,

458
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:02,960
Speaker 2: I saw very little of it because I watched my

459
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:07,720
Speaker 2: other favorite team completely implode at lambeau Field wasn't much

460
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,720
Speaker 2: better at Target Center. I refuse to be surprised by

461
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,800
Speaker 2: what this team puts on the floor night after night,

462
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,600
Speaker 2: because you never really know what you're going to get.

463
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,919
Speaker 2: But in light of they were coming off a really tough,

464
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,320
Speaker 2: long overtime game in Denver, do you give them pass

465
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,160
Speaker 2: at all for stumbling or are you just disgusted by

466
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,200
Speaker 2: the effort you saw against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.

467
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:32,439
Speaker 4: I'm somewhere in between. I'm not disgusted because it's a

468
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 4: long season. You know, they're twenty and twelve. They're ten

469
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:40,000
Speaker 4: and five in their last fifteen. They have played a

470
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,879
Speaker 4: lackluster schedule for the first two thirds of that, but

471
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:45,240
Speaker 4: their schedule has bit about the same in terms of

472
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:50,440
Speaker 4: one lost record going against much tougher competition. They still

473
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:55,480
Speaker 4: have a tendency to overestimate themselves. I think even more

474
00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:00,840
Speaker 4: than underresting estimating the opposition. I just think that if

475
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,199
Speaker 4: you throw out that wild Christmas Night game against Denver,

476
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,439
Speaker 4: which for some reason, when they go to ball Arena

477
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,359
Speaker 4: in Denver, there's crazy games that have in there, whether

478
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,560
Speaker 4: it's Game seven or you know, anyway, there's just been

479
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 4: a lot going on there. But the last three that

480
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:23,919
Speaker 4: they've played that they've lost have been at home against Phoenix, Memphis,

481
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 4: and Brooklyn. And what those three teams have in common

482
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,000
Speaker 4: is they really get after you on defense. They were

483
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:35,199
Speaker 4: playing well coming into that game, and they don't have

484
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:40,080
Speaker 4: any stars. They play a very keeam oriented style of play.

485
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,560
Speaker 4: Triple J for Memphis and Booker for Phoenix, I guess

486
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,200
Speaker 4: could be regarded as stars. But the way that they're

487
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,640
Speaker 4: coached and the way they approach the game, all three

488
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:54,320
Speaker 4: of those teams they share the ball, they're very disciplined,

489
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,800
Speaker 4: and they put a lot of pressure on you. And

490
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:01,959
Speaker 4: the Wolves weren't prepared really mentally to play any one

491
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:06,200
Speaker 4: of those three teams. And so discuss it is probably

492
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 4: too harsh of a word, because you know, every NBA

493
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:15,240
Speaker 4: team males in games on occasion, and it's a long season,

494
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,480
Speaker 4: and sometimes they play really well and lose, sometimes they

495
00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:19,720
Speaker 4: play really badly and win.

496
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:20,920
Speaker 1: But one of the.

497
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,240
Speaker 4: Things I have noticed about this Wolves team is that

498
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,159
Speaker 4: they think they can come back and beat anybody. And

499
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,480
Speaker 4: one of the reasons they think that is because they've

500
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,320
Speaker 4: come back a lot. They've come back in the fourth quarter.

501
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,960
Speaker 4: They had the best fourth quarter defense by a country

502
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,159
Speaker 4: mile over the previous like ten or twelve games heading

503
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,720
Speaker 4: into these last couple and so they think that they're

504
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,080
Speaker 4: going to be able to roar back. They overestimate themselves.

505
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 4: Is this the mark a veteran team that you know

506
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,360
Speaker 4: fronts its continuity as a virtue? No, it's not. And

507
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:57,040
Speaker 4: that is something that Chris Finch and Anthony Edwards and

508
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 4: Julius Randall and the rest of the team that is

509
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,000
Speaker 4: really kind of guiding the force and identity of this franchise.

510
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,080
Speaker 4: They're going to have to address it because it won't

511
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,639
Speaker 4: pass muster once they start to get into the crucible

512
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 4: of you know, early spring games and then the playoffs.

513
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:17,880
Speaker 2: What is the biggest issue for you for this team

514
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 2: right now? Because the defense when Rudy's not on the

515
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:25,520
Speaker 2: floor is atrocious. The point guard play is a rumor oftentimes,

516
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,600
Speaker 2: though Mike Conley has certainly shown flashes of looking like

517
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,520
Speaker 2: thirty three year old Mike Conley of late. But you

518
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 2: can't do that night after night. If there was one

519
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:35,439
Speaker 2: thing you'd like to cure more than anything else for

520
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:37,280
Speaker 2: this team right now, what would it be?

521
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,199
Speaker 4: Quite frankly, it would be attitude. It would be the

522
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 4: idea that they took everybody seriously, they walk their talk.

523
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,040
Speaker 4: I mean, what makes us so annoying? I'm much more

524
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 4: annoyed than I am discussing now.

525
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:52,480
Speaker 1: I like that discussed.

526
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,399
Speaker 4: It means you know, you're you know, you're finished with

527
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 4: these guys, and you know, having covered the team for

528
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 4: thirty odd years, I'm never going to be finished with

529
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:05,200
Speaker 4: this team. But I am very much annoyed with their personality.

530
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:09,280
Speaker 4: I'm annoyed with the idea that they look at a

531
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:11,639
Speaker 4: Brooklyn Nets team that had gone seven to three in

532
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:13,840
Speaker 4: their previous ten. The Wolves had gone six and four,

533
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,440
Speaker 4: and they clearly underestimated this team. Brooklyn got forty six

534
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,240
Speaker 4: points in the paint in the first half against them.

535
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,399
Speaker 4: I mean, that's a ninety two point in the paint pace.

536
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,320
Speaker 4: And yeah, they'd battened down in the second half and

537
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,000
Speaker 4: they only gave up twenty, but it was too late

538
00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:31,120
Speaker 4: by then, and by the way, by then, Brooklyn had been,

539
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 4: you know, a bunch of frisky kids learning how to

540
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,480
Speaker 4: play the opposite of the Wolves attitude. You know, they're

541
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,800
Speaker 4: just dying to get on the court and play as

542
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,520
Speaker 4: a team and do exactly what they're good young coaches

543
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,120
Speaker 4: telling them to do. And they you know, they outscore

544
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,639
Speaker 4: the Wolves by like almost twenty points in the second half,

545
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 4: so even with the getting only twenty points of the paint.

546
00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:54,080
Speaker 4: So that's an attitude thing. The Memphis game was an

547
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,560
Speaker 4: attitude thing. The Phoenix game was an attitude thing. On

548
00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,000
Speaker 4: the flip side, beating Oklahoma City is an attitude thing.

549
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:06,800
Speaker 4: Beating the Knicks, albeit shorthanded with og Anobi and Brunson

550
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 4: both out, but that was an attitude game. When they

551
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:11,960
Speaker 4: lock in, they're a very good basketball team, and they're

552
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:15,880
Speaker 4: obviously a very talented basketball team. Now, when you talk

553
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,359
Speaker 4: about point guard, I would agree that some of this

554
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,879
Speaker 4: attitude and poise or whatever, Conley, when he was the

555
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:27,399
Speaker 4: unquestioned alpha playmaker on the team clearly was able to

556
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,679
Speaker 4: set that tone in terms of attitude and composure a

557
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 4: lot better than anybody else right now. But I would

558
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 4: also say that, you know, they're a titular starting point

559
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,280
Speaker 4: guard Dante DiVincenzo. You know, seventy one assists and sixteen

560
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,920
Speaker 4: turnovers in the last fifteen games. That's pretty good point

561
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:49,480
Speaker 4: guard play from that slot. The problem is that they

562
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:56,360
Speaker 4: run most of their offense through two shot centric ISO

563
00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:00,439
Speaker 4: heavy players who also are expected to be playing makers,

564
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:05,840
Speaker 4: and Julius Randall and Anthony Edwards, and that can expose

565
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,879
Speaker 4: things in the offense. I mean ANT right now. In

566
00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,800
Speaker 4: the last fifteen games in which the team has gone

567
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:16,800
Speaker 4: ten and five, they've been outscored by twenty two points

568
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,960
Speaker 4: when An's been on the floor. Their overall net on

569
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 4: that is plus thirty nine, so they have outscored opposition

570
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,960
Speaker 4: by sixty one points when Ann is on the bench.

571
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,120
Speaker 4: Jade McDaniels and Ant have played about the exact same

572
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:35,880
Speaker 4: number of minutes over those fifteen games. It might surprise

573
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:41,640
Speaker 4: you to think that Jade McDaniels has one fewer assists

574
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,720
Speaker 4: than ANT in that period of time, in three less

575
00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:49,880
Speaker 4: minutes played and eighteen fewer turnovers. So Jade McDaniels could

576
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,280
Speaker 4: arguably be a much better playmaker in that stretch of

577
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 4: time than Anthony Edwards. And yet Anthony Edwards, we know

578
00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 4: because he's encountering double teams, and part of their system

579
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,680
Speaker 4: is to bring the double against Julius and Ant and

580
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,719
Speaker 4: have Ant and Julius capably play out of that. And

581
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:09,960
Speaker 4: that's one of the reasons the Wolves offense can hum

582
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,680
Speaker 4: on occasion. So, yeah, point guard would be nice, but

583
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,040
Speaker 4: then it gets down to if you're going to get

584
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,360
Speaker 4: a quality point guard, what are you giving up?

585
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,680
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, and your guys are going to have to

586
00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:22,360
Speaker 2: give up something if you're looking to bring in a

587
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 2: real player that's going to make a difference. We're talking

588
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 2: with Britt Robson, he covers the Wolves at Minpost dot com.

589
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 2: You mentioned the points in the paint that the Wolves

590
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 2: gave up to the Nets on Saturday night. They also

591
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,720
Speaker 2: got I think doubled up in bench production by the

592
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 2: Brooklyn Nets. I think that's been one of the more

593
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 2: head scratching and surprising things for me for this team

594
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,320
Speaker 2: through thirty games or so, Britt, is the lack of production,

595
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,080
Speaker 2: the lack of consistency from the bench and some of

596
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,360
Speaker 2: the players. You know, Finci's kind of been all over

597
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:53,400
Speaker 2: the board. It seems like he's been very adamant about

598
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:57,320
Speaker 2: trying to loosen up that rotation to see nine, ten,

599
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,680
Speaker 2: eleven guys who he's got. We know, come a in May,

600
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:03,960
Speaker 2: that rotation is going to be a tight eight man rotation.

601
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,840
Speaker 2: I don't know right now he knows who those eight

602
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:08,560
Speaker 2: guys are going to be. But where are you with

603
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,040
Speaker 2: how the bench has played? And I guess for me,

604
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:14,480
Speaker 2: I can't get enough Jalen Clark, and I've been a

605
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,320
Speaker 2: little surprised at his lack of minutes of late. So

606
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:19,600
Speaker 2: where do you stand on the guys on the bench.

607
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 2: And if you're looking at an eight man rotation as

608
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,520
Speaker 2: this team is currently constructed come playoff time, who are

609
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:26,600
Speaker 2: the eight guys you trust?

610
00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 4: Well, unfortunately it won't be Terren Shannon Junior, who was

611
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,640
Speaker 4: going to be. I mean, everybody knows the story here.

612
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 4: They do have an iron seven, and they had an

613
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,480
Speaker 4: iron eight last year. And the seventh or eighth man,

614
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 4: depending on how you want to calibrate it was Nikhil

615
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,959
Speaker 4: Alexander Walker, who they had to let go for salary reasons.

616
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:53,480
Speaker 4: If they wanted to resign nas reed, and they did

617
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:58,960
Speaker 4: and also re up Julius Randall, And they missed naw

618
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 4: because he was a glue guy in many ways, he

619
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 4: could be a quasi point guard. He could be a

620
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:07,520
Speaker 4: quasi combo guard. He was a great defender on ball, defender,

621
00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,080
Speaker 4: also really good in switch zone types, could break through

622
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:18,160
Speaker 4: screens really well. They thought that Terren Shannon would take

623
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 4: up the majority of what Nod did on the court,

624
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,040
Speaker 4: that he could be somewhat of a playmaker, somewhat of

625
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,560
Speaker 4: a good defender, and also be the kind of guy

626
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:28,560
Speaker 4: who could get to the rim off the bounce and

627
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 4: hit the occasional three the way Nod did. That has

628
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:39,240
Speaker 4: failed spectacularly thus far. Shannon's had a welter of minor injuries,

629
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 4: but that does not explain the almost comical net rating

630
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,560
Speaker 4: that he has. I mean, it's the kind of it's

631
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 4: over in minus net twenty, you know, it's the kind

632
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,840
Speaker 4: of thing that people usually rack up when they've played

633
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,320
Speaker 4: a very small amount of minutes, and his minutes have

634
00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:58,400
Speaker 4: begun the mount. And he's one of the worst offensive

635
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,880
Speaker 4: players on the team, one of the worst defensive players

636
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:05,640
Speaker 4: on the team. Statistically, the eye test isn't that much better.

637
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,400
Speaker 4: This is a guy who you know, obviously showed out

638
00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 4: a couple of games of the playoffs, especially a memorable

639
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:16,959
Speaker 4: performance against OKC. Had a fantastic summer league, had a

640
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:22,120
Speaker 4: fantastic preseason and almost has actually played pretty well. I'm

641
00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:26,000
Speaker 4: the home opener, I mean, the season opener in Portland,

642
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,520
Speaker 4: and then after that it just has been very, very

643
00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,560
Speaker 4: few spotty games. And you can tell by the way

644
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 4: that the team keeps on trying to jam him back

645
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:39,320
Speaker 4: in at the first sign of a resuscitation that they

646
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,400
Speaker 4: want him to succeed and fill that role, and he

647
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:44,720
Speaker 4: just not has has not been able to do it.

648
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:50,800
Speaker 4: So what you've got Jalen Clark was fantastic on defense

649
00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 4: for a while. Lately, I know you didn't see the

650
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,520
Speaker 4: Brooklyn game, Cam Thomas beat him for two and ones

651
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,880
Speaker 4: in the single quarter of play, which is just you

652
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 4: didn't see. I think they may have been the first

653
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:07,280
Speaker 4: two we've seen Jalen Clark give up. His defense has

654
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,200
Speaker 4: slipped a little bit. I don't know if that has

655
00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:15,480
Speaker 4: something to do with his irregular minutes, but his performance

656
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:20,000
Speaker 4: and efficacy lately has not been great. And then the

657
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 4: third guy of what Finch called the youth Corps, Rob Dillingham,

658
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,120
Speaker 4: shows flashes, has a great first step, has a good shot,

659
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 4: his skill set and what Finch wants out of the

660
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:35,040
Speaker 4: position are not a good match. He's been supplanted in

661
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,160
Speaker 4: the rotation by Bones Island, who, although he's kicked around

662
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,480
Speaker 4: quite a bit, is not that old. He's twenty five

663
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,959
Speaker 4: years old. He's two weeks older than Jane McDaniels and

664
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,760
Speaker 4: is getting minutes off the bench, and contrary to my

665
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:53,080
Speaker 4: curmudgeonly take on him early, has proved me wrong by

666
00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:56,440
Speaker 4: playing very well off the bench and actually being somewhat

667
00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:58,960
Speaker 4: of an elixir in terms of somebody who can move

668
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,320
Speaker 4: the ball along and make some playmaking happen. His defense

669
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,360
Speaker 4: is statistically really good, but the eye test shows it

670
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:09,840
Speaker 4: to be pretty spotty. But he has supplanted any of

671
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:13,560
Speaker 4: the three young corps and now sits alongside Nasried and

672
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,840
Speaker 4: Mike Conley as the eight players that I would guess

673
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,560
Speaker 4: Finch would go with if the playoffs would start tomorrow.

674
00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:21,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is a surprise, for sure.

675
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:26,200
Speaker 2: I've kind of admired in bad things after the last

676
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,279
Speaker 2: couple of games. There's been some positives. As you said,

677
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 2: they're twenty and twelve. Let's to you maybe has been

678
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,319
Speaker 2: the most pleasant surprise or maybe one of the most

679
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:38,000
Speaker 2: positive developments for this team that maybe you didn't necessarily

680
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:39,440
Speaker 2: expect when the season started.

681
00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:45,160
Speaker 4: I actually think that their offensive capability when they play

682
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:50,399
Speaker 4: the right way, their ball movement, which has enabled Jade

683
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,839
Speaker 4: McDaniels to play extremely well. I guess I would say,

684
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,880
Speaker 4: if you're asking me to signal out a person, McDaniels

685
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:03,600
Speaker 4: getting the room to show his versatility has been fantastic,

686
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,440
Speaker 4: and that's kind of been one of the problems lately

687
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:11,839
Speaker 4: with this kind of double ISO ball with Randalin and

688
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,680
Speaker 4: it doesn't give McDaniels as much of a chance. I'd

689
00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:17,320
Speaker 4: like to see him get a little bit more second

690
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,279
Speaker 4: unit minutes where he's one of the primary playmakers on

691
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:25,080
Speaker 4: the floor, and then I would say that after Fitsen

692
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:29,840
Speaker 4: stops start. Rudy Gobert has been fantastic over the last

693
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,239
Speaker 4: dozen games or so. His rebounding has really solidified the

694
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:38,359
Speaker 4: team's defense, especially in the second half of games. He

695
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,560
Speaker 4: is occasionally he still remains somebody who runs very hot

696
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:45,239
Speaker 4: and cold on offense, depending on whether or not he

697
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,319
Speaker 4: gets a couple of easy looks and they look to

698
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,120
Speaker 4: get him off and get scoring and get comfortable. He

699
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:55,440
Speaker 4: seems very much to be a headset oriented player in

700
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,160
Speaker 4: terms of if he feels like he's being fed and

701
00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:01,680
Speaker 4: being paid attention to early, he gets a lot more

702
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:04,960
Speaker 4: of his game going, but his defense has remained rock solid.

703
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:07,560
Speaker 4: As you mentioned. One of the problems, of course, has

704
00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:11,279
Speaker 4: been how completely they fall apart on defense when he's

705
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:16,239
Speaker 4: off the floor. But he remains a stalwart. And it's

706
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,400
Speaker 4: easy to underestimating because defense is a vague thing and

707
00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:22,800
Speaker 4: you never really know who's at fault and who's the credit.

708
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,560
Speaker 4: A lot of times in the NBA he does a

709
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:28,160
Speaker 4: lot of what they call never minds, when people try

710
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,520
Speaker 4: to drive to the rim and then move out of it.

711
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,879
Speaker 4: And they've been moving him around on defense a little

712
00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:38,000
Speaker 4: bit more, not strictly drop coverage, and he's been effective

713
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:42,080
Speaker 4: there and still getting rebounds. He's always great on screen assists.

714
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,520
Speaker 4: He is fantastic at freeing out people that way. So

715
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:50,480
Speaker 4: I would say Rudy Gobert and Jade McDaniels individually have

716
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,960
Speaker 4: been the pleasant surprises. And I would say the Wolves

717
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:57,480
Speaker 4: capacity I believe to be a top five offense when

718
00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 4: the ball is moving, when and Randall playing the right way,

719
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,560
Speaker 4: and when this team decides it wants to lock in mentally,

720
00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:07,080
Speaker 4: those are all things that are good things to look

721
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:09,240
Speaker 4: forward to. Is the season, bozarkt I'll.

722
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:11,240
Speaker 2: Move off the walls for our last minute or two together.

723
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:13,880
Speaker 2: It wasn't that long ago. A couple of weeks we

724
00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,799
Speaker 2: were talking about the Oklahoma City Thunder looking like a

725
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:19,640
Speaker 2: team that might break the Warriors record for most wins

726
00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:22,480
Speaker 2: in the regular season. Then the San Antonio Spurs came

727
00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:25,600
Speaker 2: along and knock them off, not once but twice last week,

728
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,080
Speaker 2: first doing it at home and then go into Okacee

729
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:32,600
Speaker 2: on Christmas Day and dominating them again. The rise of

730
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,080
Speaker 2: the Spurs. You know, we looked at the heading into

731
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:36,880
Speaker 2: the season. You know, the Thunder, the Rockets, and the

732
00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:38,640
Speaker 2: Nuggets are the teams we got to make sure we

733
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:41,319
Speaker 2: take care of. The Spurs are ahead of schedule. I'm

734
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,680
Speaker 2: curious how impressed you are watching this team that has

735
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:48,080
Speaker 2: been doing it without really a fully healthy victor woman

736
00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:51,240
Speaker 2: Yamaho until I think last night maybe coming off the bench,

737
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:53,959
Speaker 2: what do you see when you watch the Spurs play?

738
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:55,560
Speaker 1: And are they going to own this league?

739
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:57,520
Speaker 2: Is it gonna be the Thunder and Spurs and the

740
00:37:57,560 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 2: rest is You're on your own at this point.

741
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 4: Well, it's kind of comical. I considered myself a wise

742
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,239
Speaker 4: man at the beginning of the year, when people I

743
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:09,440
Speaker 4: was on a podcast and somebody was saying, you know

744
00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:12,800
Speaker 4: what you're you know out of the box prediction this year,

745
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,480
Speaker 4: and my out of the boxing prediction was that the

746
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:19,040
Speaker 4: San Antonio Spurs would avoid the play and be one

747
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,759
Speaker 4: of the top six teams in the Western Conference, and

748
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,320
Speaker 4: I was considered a really bold prediction. Now, I was

749
00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,680
Speaker 4: kind of really proud of myself. And now here we're

750
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:28,680
Speaker 4: arguing about whether or not they'll be the top seed

751
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 4: or order the eventual NBA champion or not. They clearly

752
00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:36,200
Speaker 4: are way ahead of schedule. They have a template that

753
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,480
Speaker 4: is looking to me to be a template for over

754
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:43,160
Speaker 4: achievement in the NBA, which is that you get a

755
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:46,440
Speaker 4: young team and a young coach and they get drilled

756
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,800
Speaker 4: into a certain way of playing. They eagerly adopt that system.

757
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:55,880
Speaker 4: They play unselfishly. There's no star system. You have people

758
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,880
Speaker 4: like Wemby and Fox obviously who are the stars. But

759
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:02,000
Speaker 4: their last two draft picks that they've hit on, actually,

760
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,400
Speaker 4: if you come Wemby, their last three draft picks that

761
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 4: they've hit on. But Castle and Harper have both been

762
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:12,640
Speaker 4: fantastic two way guards, guys who can play make and

763
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,640
Speaker 4: defend at a really high level. They've got a veteran,

764
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:20,680
Speaker 4: you know, over from Dallas a long time ago, Harrison Barnes,

765
00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:23,040
Speaker 4: who fits in perfectly. Is kind of a fifth cog.

766
00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,360
Speaker 4: That's just the team that is more than the sum

767
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:29,399
Speaker 4: of its parts, like Okac, and one of the things

768
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:34,279
Speaker 4: we've learned about Okac is size bothers them Wemby. The

769
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:38,759
Speaker 4: Wolves have played the Thunder tough twice this season. Ok

770
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:43,680
Speaker 4: See is zero to three now against San Antonio, so

771
00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:47,160
Speaker 4: that's four of their five losses this season. I've come

772
00:39:47,239 --> 00:39:50,560
Speaker 4: to teams that have, you know, big front courts, mobile

773
00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:55,600
Speaker 4: front courts, and so yeah, I do think that for

774
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:59,360
Speaker 4: the foreseeable future, you never want to get too permanent

775
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,200
Speaker 4: addictions in the NBA because things can rapidly change. We

776
00:40:03,239 --> 00:40:05,760
Speaker 4: could be a year ago, I'm sure we were praising

777
00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 4: the Celtics to High Heaven as a potential dynasty or something.

778
00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:10,840
Speaker 4: But right now I would have to say that the

779
00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:14,279
Speaker 4: Thunder and the Spurs are definitely ahead of schedule. Not

780
00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:16,799
Speaker 4: only that they have youth on their side and they

781
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 4: have draft capital on their side, they have really capable

782
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:25,840
Speaker 4: front offices in Sam Presty and rk Rl Burnett. I

783
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:29,400
Speaker 4: believe it is in San Antonio. They have good young coaches,

784
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:32,960
Speaker 4: and the Wolves are going to have to do something

785
00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,520
Speaker 4: if they think they're going to be running along those

786
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:37,480
Speaker 4: two teams in the next five years.

787
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:41,319
Speaker 2: Chicago and Atlanta to close out the calendar year. I mean,

788
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,759
Speaker 2: they're just December games in a long season, but these

789
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:46,640
Speaker 2: feel really important in light of what's gone down the

790
00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:47,439
Speaker 2: last couple games.

791
00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:51,440
Speaker 4: Do you agree, Well, certainly the Bulls game is a template.

792
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:55,080
Speaker 4: It's a team that is playing well recently that with

793
00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:57,840
Speaker 4: a possible exception of Josh Giddy, you know, which I

794
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:02,040
Speaker 4: wouldn't really place as a star caliber player. Vossevich has

795
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:05,040
Speaker 4: always been a one dimensional player. But they have a

796
00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:07,719
Speaker 4: lot of frisky young guys who are listening to their

797
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:13,600
Speaker 4: coach lately, and they present exactly the kind of challenge

798
00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:19,200
Speaker 4: that Brooklyn and Memphis and Phoenix had presented previously. So

799
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:24,279
Speaker 4: I'm kind of curious to see how the Wolves respond

800
00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:28,279
Speaker 4: after three losses to that type of team. As for

801
00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:31,279
Speaker 4: the Hawks, it seems that it's a weird thing to

802
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:35,040
Speaker 4: say and probably bad news for Rob Dillingham, whose comp

803
00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:37,480
Speaker 4: is probably Trey Young as much as anybody in the league.

804
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,200
Speaker 4: But when the Hawks have Trey Young, they don't play well.

805
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:42,359
Speaker 4: And when they I mean when they do have Trey Young,

806
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:44,680
Speaker 4: they don't play well. And when they don't, they do

807
00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:46,719
Speaker 4: when Trey Young is healthy. And I'm not sure that's

808
00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:49,960
Speaker 4: good news for the Hawks, but yeah, I think the

809
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:55,040
Speaker 4: Bulls game is important, obviously if they lose to the Bulls. Atlanta, Miami,

810
00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:58,440
Speaker 4: Washington all on the road have different levels of expertise.

811
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:02,000
Speaker 4: But as you started up this conversation saying, you never

812
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:03,680
Speaker 4: know what you're gonna get with these wolves.

813
00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:04,120
Speaker 1: Hit the court.

814
00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:06,960
Speaker 2: They keep you guessing. I guess that's one of the

815
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:08,320
Speaker 2: positive things you could say.

816
00:42:08,719 --> 00:42:09,000
Speaker 1: Brett.

817
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:10,880
Speaker 2: It's always a blast chatting with you. Keep up the

818
00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:13,239
Speaker 2: great work at minpost dot com. We'll continue to read

819
00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:15,399
Speaker 2: you and I'll look forward to having you on next

820
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:16,680
Speaker 2: time I'm sitting in one of these chairs.

821
00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:18,799
Speaker 1: Thanks, my man, Sure it sounds good.

822
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,279
Speaker 2: Happy New Year. Britt Robson kind enough to spend some

823
00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:24,399
Speaker 2: time with us. And if you've never read his stuff, man,

824
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:27,760
Speaker 2: he has a way with words unlike many. We're very

825
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,160
Speaker 2: very fortunate between him and Krasinski and Heine and Frederick,

826
00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:34,439
Speaker 2: oh my, there's so many great guys. Covering that basketball team,

827
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:37,279
Speaker 2: and Britt does a great job. Well pause here top

828
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:39,400
Speaker 2: of the hour. Two hours down and one hour to go.

829
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:43,520
Speaker 2: We'll zoom the NFL conversation for the two o'clock hours.

830
00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:46,520
Speaker 2: Sinnicon and Blake Moore in for Common on a Monday

831
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:47,080
Speaker 2: on the Fan