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Speaker 1: Here we go in a Friday lot, ten lots to

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Speaker 1: talk about the NFL Combine in full swing, busy weekend

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Speaker 1: and Indianapolis. We're live in Chicago. It's the herd. Wherever

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Speaker 1: you may be, however you may be listening. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: making us part of your day. We've spent a lot

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Speaker 1: of time this week talking about the Lakers for good reason.

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Speaker 1: They're the number one brand and the number one villain

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Speaker 1: in the NBA, and we're watching them melt in real time.

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Speaker 1: So if you had a leak in your house, right,

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Speaker 1: a small leak, you could convince yourself, yeah, I'll patch

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Speaker 1: it up, no biggie. But if your pipe bursts, well

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Speaker 1: then you get real clarity. I got a problem. So

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Speaker 1: losing to the Celtics, the Lakers said, do we have

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Speaker 1: a leak? Losing to Orlando, Oh, we do have a leak.

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Speaker 1: Losing the banged up Phoenix last night, You've got water

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Speaker 1: in your living room. The Lakers have lost three straight,

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Speaker 1: five of seven. They're falling apart. The Suns have Devin

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Speaker 1: Booker or Dylan Brooks or one of their top rotational guys.

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Speaker 1: They'd scored seventy seven and eighty one points in their

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Speaker 1: previous two games. Ah, but the slump busters, the Lakers defense,

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Speaker 1: the offensive slump busters in the league. The Sun score

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Speaker 1: one hundred and thirteen and shoot a marvelous forty four

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Speaker 1: percent from three. The pipes for the Lakers have burst.

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Speaker 1: There can be no debate. And for the record, it's

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Speaker 1: a perfect thing. It actually is the best case scenario

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Speaker 1: because it illustrates that if you're a Laker in the building,

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Speaker 1: new owners, or a player or a coach, there's real

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Speaker 1: work ahead. Let's stop pretending Lebron and Luca work. It's

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Speaker 1: a year in they don't. This team is eleven and

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Speaker 1: sixteen against just winning teams, and not all winning teams

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Speaker 1: in the NBA are actually any good. That's just against

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Speaker 1: teams with a winning record. I mean, Phoenix couldn't score

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Speaker 1: in the line last week. Last night, they were humming,

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Speaker 1: moving the ball wide open jumpers. There's nothing you can

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Speaker 1: point to to this team. Awful defensively, not enough athletes,

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Speaker 1: can't defend the rim, don't shoot threes, not athletic enough,

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Speaker 1: and it's all on display, and it's actually perfect. This

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Speaker 1: isn't a championship team. This is perfect because when you

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Speaker 1: get into trouble is when you have an off season

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Speaker 1: and go to the big meeting rooms and everybody sits

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Speaker 1: around in debates, Hey we are good, our company is good. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: our stock price is going to move up, and I

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Speaker 1: think our management team is excellent and we've got great employees.

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Speaker 1: It's much better to be like, yeah, we need four

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Speaker 1: new really good players, and we got to move off Lebron.

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Speaker 1: I mean, even the thing they were good at this year,

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Speaker 1: clutch games, they've lost the last two of those. So

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Speaker 1: the Lakers bench, which I think is the worst in

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Speaker 1: the league, was outscored fifty six to twenty five. And

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Speaker 1: think about that. Phoenix was missing three two starters, best

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Speaker 1: players Dylan Brooks and Devin Booker, and a top rotational guy.

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Speaker 1: So the bench for Phoenix's third string guys, it's still

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Speaker 1: doubled up. The Lakers, so they need four players, probably

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Speaker 1: a couple of B pluses, maybe an anus. The good

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Speaker 1: news is they have three available first round picks to

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Speaker 1: trade this offseason. They have a ton of cap space,

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Speaker 1: and they're gonna move off Lebron. But you're watching this

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Speaker 1: big glossy brand melt and I think a lot of

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Speaker 1: times when you bring in when you bring in Luca.

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Speaker 1: Every Laker fan thought, oh, this will solve our issues.

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Speaker 1: But there's just new issues, and the issues are clear.

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Speaker 1: He is such an atrocious defensive player that you can't

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Speaker 1: have a forty one year old as his best teammate.

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Speaker 1: So in speaking of Lebron's exit, Byron Scott on a

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Speaker 1: popular local LA radio show yesterday said, what a lot

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Speaker 1: of former Lakers and maybe current new Laker executives think.

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Speaker 2: I just thought it was.

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Speaker 3: Laughable, you know, coming from one of the greatest players

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Speaker 3: that ever played a game to say that it was hard.

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Speaker 3: It's harder to play down than it was. Then are

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Speaker 3: you ready to see him go.

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Speaker 2: From the Lakers? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 3: I mean, like I said, I'm a fan, but you

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Speaker 3: know I don't mince words either.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think this should be his last year here,

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Speaker 2: so do I.

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Speaker 1: Lebron is forty one, He's averaging the fewest minutes of

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Speaker 1: his career, He's shooting under thirty percent on threes, the

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Speaker 1: fewest points per game since his rookie season, and he

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Speaker 1: is the second slowest player in the entire league. Lebron

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Speaker 1: had leverage over the NBA for twenty one years. Twenty

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Speaker 1: two years. It's all dried up, and he's been such

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Speaker 1: a mercenary. And I have defended him for his mobility,

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Speaker 1: good for him, but he has been such a tercenary.

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Speaker 1: There's no reason to be sentimental and romantic about it.

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Speaker 1: There's no need for that. He bailed on teams. I

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Speaker 1: supported it. They were good business moves. And the Lakers

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Speaker 1: probably and should bail on him. Listen, this was always

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Speaker 1: going to be Let's be totally honest about Lebron and

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. Let's just be frank about this. It was

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Speaker 1: always a Hollywood marriage, right, two hot stars, and you

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Speaker 1: know what happens in Hollywood. One of the stars eventually

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Speaker 1: starts dating somebody younger. That's Luca. Lebron had all the leverage,

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Speaker 1: but he bounced around left Miami, didn't give d Wade

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Speaker 1: or Bosha heads up five minutes before it happened. They

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Speaker 1: found out, and that's okay. I defended him. He was

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Speaker 1: the best player in the world for eighteen years. But

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Speaker 1: this Hollywood marriage, hey, listen, the good news that lasted

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Speaker 1: longer than Nick Cage and Lisa Marie Presley or Billy

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Speaker 1: Bob and Angelina. You know it was It wasn't just

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Speaker 1: a weekend in Vegas. It lasted a while, but again,

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Speaker 1: I think from day one, Laker fans looked at Luca as, oh,

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Speaker 1: this is the solution to our problems, and it just

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Speaker 1: really illustrates there are different problems with Luca. Luca is

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Speaker 1: not Wemby, you know, he's not like he's not even,

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Speaker 1: to be honest with you, he's not SGA because Sja

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Speaker 1: is infrequently hurt and in great impeccable shape. So we

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Speaker 1: are at a point now that there can be no debate.

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Speaker 1: Nobody's going to the meeting room and trying to convince

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Speaker 1: themselves the Lebron Luca thing works. That's the great thing

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Speaker 1: about analytics. You know, I talk a lot about analytics,

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Speaker 1: whereas I like analytics, but sometimes, you know, in the

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Speaker 1: biggest moments, I just want guys to make plays. I

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Speaker 1: don't care what the numbers say. It's fourth and one,

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Speaker 1: give it to your star running back. I don't care

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Speaker 1: what analytics say. I don't want to kick a field goal.

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Speaker 1: But the analytics and the data are really instructive. Lebron

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Speaker 1: and Luca don't work because they're now both awful defensive players,

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Speaker 1: and Luca and Austin Reeves actually do work because Austin

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Speaker 1: is much more willing to be the valet to the

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Speaker 1: Bentley and it works, and the data all says it.

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Speaker 1: So Luca is absolutely such a gifted offensive player, He's

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Speaker 1: absolutely an asset. And to maximize that asset, you got

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Speaker 1: to move off Lebron and you got it free up

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Speaker 1: cap space. You got to go get four players. Three

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Speaker 1: have to be very good defensively. Two have to be

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Speaker 1: able to catch and shoot. Because Luca's always got the ball,

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Speaker 1: but Lebron's bailed three times, defended him every time. It's

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Speaker 1: time for the Lakers to bail. Here was Rachel Nichols yesterday.

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Speaker 4: There is a big sort of let's go to the summer,

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Speaker 4: let's get there, let's move forward. And while the Lakers

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Speaker 4: have said Lebron is welcome back in the organization, it's

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Speaker 4: very clear that building around Luca does not involve Lebron. James,

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Speaker 4: I don't really blame some sort of the lazy plays

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Speaker 4: or the not getting to the rim as much, or

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Speaker 4: some of the falling apart that we've seen, because I

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Speaker 4: think everyone's mind on that team is we're going to

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Speaker 4: fight as hard as we can, but we all know

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Speaker 4: we're not finals contenders right now.

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Speaker 1: You know, sometimes when I used to live on the

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Speaker 1: East Coast and work for the other place, I had commented,

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Speaker 1: I'd never really listened in Northeast sports talk radio, and

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Speaker 1: it was very powerful in Boston and Philadelphia, New York.

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Speaker 1: And I believed that a lot of times, like managers

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Speaker 1: and executives listened to it and panicked if the fans

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Speaker 1: came out and said we want this or we want that,

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Speaker 1: and the Jets and the Mets or the you know organizations,

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Speaker 1: not the Belichick Patriots, but they would panic. And I

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Speaker 1: feel like the new Laker owners they really understand Los Angeles.

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles is distracted and wants to win. And the

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Speaker 1: Bus family one of the poorer families in the NBA.

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Speaker 1: They own the Lakers. They were afraid to move off Kobe,

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Speaker 1: they were afraid to move off Lebron and what about

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Speaker 1: merchandise and ticket sales. But the new Dodgers owners have

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Speaker 1: a real understanding. They've got much more capital, much better capitalized.

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Speaker 1: They've moved off Cody Bellinger and Manny Machado briefly, and

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Speaker 1: Zach Grinkey and Scott Seeger trade Turner like great players

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Speaker 1: to get better players. So I imagine the Lakers will

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Speaker 1: be all in on Giannis, which, by the way, with

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Speaker 1: Luca's defensive liabilities, is not a bad move. But Lebron's

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Speaker 1: not magic. Magic. Johnson is so popular in LA it's

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Speaker 1: kind of remarkable when he goes to a Laker game.

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Speaker 1: Even now he lives in Los Angeles. You can see

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Speaker 1: him at the lunch or breakfast seven days a week.

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Speaker 1: If he shows up at Staples, the crowd rises, Oh

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Speaker 1: my god, there's magic. That's not what Lebron is. That's

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Speaker 1: never been Lebron. Shack has that feel. The late Jerry

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Speaker 1: West Kobe had that that feel. Lebron does it. He

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Speaker 1: bounced around the league, he went and found the best

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Speaker 1: spot for him. I supported him every way. In fact,

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Speaker 1: after he left Cleveland the first time and people burned

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Speaker 1: his jerseys, I'm like, he gave a million bucks of

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Speaker 1: the Boys and Girls Club. It was a little clunky

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Speaker 1: move on. Everybody else, including the commissioner, David Stern, was

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Speaker 1: crushing him, and I'm like, it's not the end of

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Speaker 1: the world. They couldn't get him an All Star seven

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Speaker 1: years he gave Cleveland everything, but now nobody has leverage

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Speaker 1: forever nobody. Nobody has leverage forever. Even our presidents have

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Speaker 1: term limits. Jay Mac, I know this was a rough

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Speaker 1: opening for you, but as I said, when the pipes burst,

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Speaker 1: it creates clarity. And I think losing to Phoenix clobbered

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Speaker 1: by Boston can't close out Orlando at home. It is like, hey,

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Speaker 1: we need new we need multiple new guys, and Reddick,

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Speaker 1: Austin and Luke are here for the long term. Everybody

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Speaker 1: else was going to get moved.

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Speaker 5: Well, remember early part of the season, they were winning

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Speaker 5: all these close games in the clutch. They were one

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Speaker 5: of the best teams in the league. Now they lose

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Speaker 5: two in a row and it's like, oh boy, here

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Speaker 5: we go, here we come play in. You know, there's

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Speaker 5: just I think one game out of the play in

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Speaker 5: at this point, which would not be great. Well, I'm

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Speaker 5: gonna stay the course. Colin, I know you're gonna be negative.

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Speaker 5: Nancy here, it's fine. It's a beautiful Friday in La

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Speaker 5: eighty degrees. You can't dim my Friday. I think the

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Speaker 5: Lakers are going to be fine off season ahead. Bring

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Speaker 5: in Yannis, Let's go Lakers.

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Speaker 1: Robert Mays, who is great on this show. He's got

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Speaker 1: a great football podcast for the Athletic will be joining

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Speaker 1: us in about forty five minutes from now. Chris Finch

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Speaker 1: t Wolves head coaches joining US, Lakers melting Down. We'll

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Speaker 1: have more on that. So if you're a Dallas Cowboy fan,

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Speaker 1: there's a couple of realities. Your defense stinks, but you

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Speaker 1: do have two first round picks. Both of those should

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Speaker 1: absolutely be used on your defense. So you don't have

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Speaker 1: a second or a third, but you've got a couple

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Speaker 1: of first and it's a pretty good defensive draft, especially

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Speaker 1: edge rusher's a couple of big time corners in the

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Speaker 1: first round, couple of nice safeties. Cowboys should spend their

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Speaker 1: draft picks on that. News came out today on George Pickens.

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Speaker 1: Reportedly they're going to franchise tag, the dramatic, sometimes high maintenance,

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Speaker 1: but marvelously talented wide receiver. And here's Stephen Jones on Pickins.

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Speaker 7: Love George and want him here, and it's really important

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Speaker 7: for us. I think George wants.

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Speaker 2: To be here, so we want a long term contract.

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Speaker 7: Yes, I'm sure he wants to be under a long

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Speaker 7: term contract. No one ever just loves the franchise tag.

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Speaker 7: We want George here. I mean it's really important to us.

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Speaker 7: We thought we had really played some of our best

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Speaker 7: offense we've ever played having CD and George. I mean

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Speaker 7: they're both, you know, elite receivers in this league.

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Speaker 1: For the record, I can't quibble with what the Cowboys

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Speaker 1: are doing in theory offensive coach, spending a lot of money.

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Speaker 1: Third straight year, they'll be uh, they'll have the most

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Speaker 1: expensive offensive player. That beats having the most expensive defensive player.

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Speaker 1: And they were the number two offense last year, and

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Speaker 1: George Pickins and Cdee Lamb and Dak Prescott are really good,

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Speaker 1: so I can't quibble with that. It would be nice

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Speaker 1: to occasionally, like the Seahawks of the Rams, get a

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Speaker 1: player like Puka at least at a bit of a

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Speaker 1: discount for several years. Brandon Aubrey, the Cowboy kicker, is

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Speaker 1: also seeking the highest kicking contract in the league, and

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Speaker 1: he'll get it. It's like the Cowboys have a self

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Speaker 1: imposed tariff on all their players. They walk out of

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Speaker 1: the dealership. We got the Bentley at fifteen percent above

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Speaker 1: asking price and they brag about it. So Dak's at

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Speaker 1: seventy four million, CD's almost forty million. Pickins is going

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Speaker 1: to be twenty eight and a half million. Tyler Smith,

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Speaker 1: hell of a player. He'll be twenty eight million. You'll

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Speaker 1: have the highest paid kicker. So I mean, listen, they

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Speaker 1: got an offensive ca they're spending money on the right

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Speaker 1: side of the football. The offense is very good. But

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Speaker 1: when I watch the Rams and the Seahawks play, there

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Speaker 1: are seven to eight players for both Seattle and LA

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Speaker 1: that are highly productive on both sides of the ball

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Speaker 1: and aren't getting paid a ton. It should be noted

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Speaker 1: Kenny Clark's cap hit is going up, Quinn Williams going up.

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Speaker 1: So if you're wondering why they have all these stars,

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Speaker 1: star players and they're not very good and the Seahawks

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Speaker 1: have a bunch of star players and just won the

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Speaker 1: Super Bowl, it's because the Seahawks and the Rams do

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Speaker 1: a really good job on draft Day and they get

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Speaker 1: lots of players who are great early and can play early,

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Speaker 1: and they don't have to pay. So the Cowboys are

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Speaker 1: top of the market on everybody. But again, I can't

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Speaker 1: quibble with Ceedee Lambs at number one. Pickens feels like

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Speaker 1: a really elite number two. Little hot and cold, Little

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Speaker 1: Mooney pouted a little last year. Dax absolutely a top

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Speaker 1: twelve quarterback in the league. Offensive coach. Here's Brian Schottenheimer

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Speaker 1: on Pickins.

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Speaker 8: This is going to play out the way it's supposed

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Speaker 8: to play out. GP loves football, and my relationship with

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Speaker 8: GP doesn't change. Just say it didn't change with CD

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Speaker 8: or DAK. Are those guys that were going through certain

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Speaker 8: things and it's all part of the process, is the

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Speaker 8: business side of it. But hell, I was talking to

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Speaker 8: CD last night and so you know it doesn't change.

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Speaker 8: I've been around George from the time he got here,

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Speaker 8: from the time he came in, and I say this

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Speaker 8: respectful and I kicked his ass in shooting free throws

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Speaker 8: in my office.

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Speaker 1: He might not remember it that way.

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Speaker 8: I knew this guy's a competitor and he loves football,

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Speaker 8: So I hope so.

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Speaker 1: So big D used to stand for Dallas. Now it

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Speaker 1: stands for deficit. So they've got to hit on those

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Speaker 1: first two draft picks. They've got to go defense, and

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Speaker 1: they have to hit on him because the only way

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Speaker 1: you can pay all these players top of market. You

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Speaker 1: got to go five for five in your first five

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Speaker 1: picks in the draft, and the Cowboys don't have a

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Speaker 1: second and a third couple of first and middle rounds.

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Speaker 6: One more Heard The Herd streams twenty four hours a day,

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Speaker 6: seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd

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Speaker 6: to listen live or on demand whenever you like.

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Speaker 1: Beck and I could sit with Finch and ask him

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Speaker 1: questions for an hour. Most underady, most over ready the

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Speaker 1: best player, this player or that player. So let's start

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Speaker 1: with us. First of all, it's great to see you.

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Speaker 1: We were talking during the break. You're two and one

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Speaker 1: against Spurs, You're two and one against OKAC. All my

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Speaker 1: NBA guys they always say two. There's two seasons, and

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Speaker 1: the athletic teams that have a closer and a good coach,

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Speaker 1: that's the dangerous team in the postseason. And my guys

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Speaker 1: are all saying, watch Minnesota in the postseason. They're built

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Speaker 1: for the playoffs. So you've done well against Wemby and OKC.

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Speaker 1: Let's first start with this. Jay McK and I talked

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Speaker 1: about it the other day. He had a game against

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Speaker 1: Detroit Chris. He didn't even score until late and he

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Speaker 1: controlled it, steals, blocks, rebounds. First time you played against him,

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Speaker 1: how do you defend Wemby?

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Speaker 2: What did you do? It's the defending is just I

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Speaker 2: think half the problem.

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Speaker 9: It's that when he's on defense, it's just he just

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Speaker 9: changes the geometry of the floor. Guys don't even want

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Speaker 9: to be themselves. They don't attack the paint in the

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Speaker 9: same manner. He can cover so much ground on a

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Speaker 9: close out. You know, he can be in a help

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Speaker 9: position and and and still be you know, guarding two

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Speaker 9: or three players. It's I've never seen anything like that.

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Speaker 9: With his length, his anticipation and if he has his

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Speaker 9: three three ball going.

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Speaker 2: On offense, he's unguardable.

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Speaker 9: And you know, we played him in an as an

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Speaker 9: epic game in January as a him and Anthony both

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Speaker 9: went for almost fifty and it was a lot of

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Speaker 9: fun to watch. And he you know, he had his

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Speaker 9: three point shot going that night. And if that's going,

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Speaker 9: it's you know, I.

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Speaker 2: Don't know what you do with them.

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Speaker 1: You've been in basketball for a long time. Oh Sga

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Speaker 1: has been banged up. He's one of the weaker defensive players.

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Speaker 1: If I said to you three or four best defenses

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Speaker 1: you've ever seen in the NBA, does okay see qualify?

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Speaker 2: Well, last year's okay see version for sure?

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Speaker 9: This year you said some of their better defenders Caruso

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Speaker 9: certainly Jalen Williams.

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Speaker 2: They've been they've been hurt all year.

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Speaker 9: Yeah, but I'll tell you who's who's really good defensively there? Well,

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Speaker 9: both they're bigs are but Hartenstein has outstanding field defensively,

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Speaker 9: and Chet challenges everything. So and all their guys guard

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Speaker 9: you know, even Shay. You know, he's going to execute

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Speaker 9: the game plan, compete on the ball, do the things

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Speaker 9: they need him to do to be really good. So

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Speaker 9: I would you know, they were historically great defense, no doubt,

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Speaker 9: and they earned that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so listen last night. You know I always say this.

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Speaker 1: I remember there's a video years ago Peyton Manning and

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Speaker 1: Jeff Saturday yelling at each other, and I'm like, guys

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Speaker 1: and fans freak out. And I'm always like, I've watched

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Speaker 1: Brady Rip coaches in the middle of a game or

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Speaker 1: late game. It's pro sports, it's live. So you and

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Speaker 1: Aunt go back and forth. Last night, he's like, I

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Speaker 1: don't care. I'm good with it. But when you get

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Speaker 1: into situations like that, You're like, hey, I need you

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Speaker 1: a dish. He wants to shoot, Like how he's your star?

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Speaker 1: Are take me through it? Is it difficult for you

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Speaker 1: as a coach? Yeah?

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Speaker 9: I mean, listen, we're both fiery competitors. It's been part

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Speaker 9: of our part of our relationships since day one. And

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Speaker 9: you know, we have a phenomenally talented player who makes

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Speaker 9: great shots, and he's a closer and he's taken major

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Speaker 9: strides in that department and we're lucky to have him.

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Speaker 9: And you know, this is not the first game winning

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Speaker 9: shot that he's made for us this season. He's but

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Speaker 9: you know, he also has the burden of responsibility of

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Speaker 9: making his teammates better and and making the right play,

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Speaker 9: and that's what we're preaching to him all the time.

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Speaker 9: He's really emotional. I'm emotional.

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Speaker 7: You know.

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Speaker 2: We say these things to each other and we move on.

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Speaker 2: We don't take it personally. And you know, I didn't.

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Speaker 9: I didn't think that the com the comments after the

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Speaker 9: game were mean spirited. I thought he was just kind

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Speaker 9: of joking around and taking you know, we just jab

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Speaker 9: back and forth with each other, and it's you know,

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Speaker 9: as you know, calling these guys are super competitive and

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Speaker 9: and they're very prideful, and sometimes you got to stoke

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Speaker 9: that fire and sometimes it comes back on you.

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Speaker 2: But that's part of it. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I saw Andy Reid and Travis Kelcey. I thought they

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Speaker 1: were I thought Andy was gonna throw a headset at him.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, it's like, folks, this is life. It's pro sports. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's one funny The NFL films does this

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Speaker 1: all the time. They'll mic people and then like a

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Speaker 1: year later you'll hear it and you hear Belichick and

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Speaker 1: Parcels and there. It's like, guys, it's live. It's it's

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Speaker 1: you're on a clock, you're on national TV. Get over it.

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Speaker 1: So one of the things that I think is pretty clear,

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Speaker 1: and I think the NBA is right the w NBA

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Speaker 1: doesn't they really let physical play in the regular season,

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Speaker 1: so their stars get banged up and aren't always available

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Speaker 1: for the postseason. In the NBA, you know they're gonna

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Speaker 1: whistle stuff in the regular season and then they let

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Speaker 1: you guys play in the postseason. And I mean when

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Speaker 1: you lose players Tatum gets hurt, Halliburton, what do you

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Speaker 1: do as a coach, Because you're a team that can

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Speaker 1: be physical. Detroit's a team, they're physical. Nicks aren't necessarily

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Speaker 1: as physical. What do you do to kind of ramp

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Speaker 1: your team up into prepare for basketball? Because but the

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Speaker 1: time it's late April and May, Chris, it looks different,

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Speaker 1: it's officiated different, it feels different. I mean, you could

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Speaker 1: do it comes through the television. How do you prep

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Speaker 1: a team for that?

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Speaker 9: Yeah, it's the great point in coming out of the

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Speaker 9: All Star Game is usually that line of demarcation. And

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Speaker 9: we've just played a number of physical games. So in

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Speaker 9: terms of getting us ready for the playoffs, I do

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Speaker 9: like that and we've got to respond. Like we're not

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Speaker 9: always the hit first physical team, but when somebody does hit,

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Speaker 9: we do get we get back into it with them,

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Speaker 9: and that's good to see. You know, You're right, the

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Speaker 9: playoffs are just another animal altogether. You got to be

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Speaker 9: able to play with through physicality. With physicality, you gotta

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Speaker 9: be smart with the physicality and referees. You know, at

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Speaker 9: that point in time, you're also getting the best referees

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Speaker 9: who can manage that physicality, which which cleans up the

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Speaker 9: product too.

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Speaker 1: You know, we were talking during the break, and this

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Speaker 1: is always fun. I said, Okay, give me a guy

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Speaker 1: in the NBA. And everybody makes good money, so it's

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Speaker 1: not a salary question. And I said to you, j

428
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:15,680
Speaker 1: Mack has a question. He goes, who in the NBA

429
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:17,159
Speaker 1: do you, as a coach do you look at as

430
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,879
Speaker 1: a player and think, boy, that guy is good And

431
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,240
Speaker 1: we don't talk about him on shows like this or

432
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:24,680
Speaker 1: Steven a Show or somebody show or Nick Wright show.

433
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:26,920
Speaker 1: But a guy that you look at and you think, man,

434
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,680
Speaker 1: that guy deserves pub he's a big time player. Yeah.

435
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,040
Speaker 2: Well, I mean I'm going to start right on our

436
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:33,440
Speaker 2: own team.

437
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,920
Speaker 9: Jade McDaniels I think Jaden McDaniels has become one of

438
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,119
Speaker 9: the best two way players in the league. He's always

439
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,200
Speaker 9: been great defensively. I think his defense has gotten better.

440
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 9: I don't think it's enough credit for being the level

441
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,760
Speaker 9: of defender that he actually is. His offense is taken

442
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,120
Speaker 9: major steps this year. We can now give him the ball.

443
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:52,880
Speaker 9: He can get buckets on demand. His three point shot

444
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:57,520
Speaker 9: is up over forty percent, his rebounding, his usage, his assists.

445
00:23:57,840 --> 00:23:59,920
Speaker 9: These are all the steps that we needed him to

446
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:01,800
Speaker 9: take to be a better team this year, and he's

447
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,560
Speaker 9: done it. So he's one of the most underrated players

448
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,680
Speaker 9: the league. He plays in the shadow of Anthony and

449
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 9: Rudy defensively and Anthony offensively and Julius Randall. But he's

450
00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:14,800
Speaker 9: just as important to any as anybody else to our team.

451
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 1: So Jamck and I got into a argument the other day.

452
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 1: I have no problem. I think you have to play

453
00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 1: sixty five games. This is to attack load management to

454
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,560
Speaker 1: be to win certain awards, and j Max like, well,

455
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: then kid Cunningham is gonna win MVP, And I'm like,

456
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,000
Speaker 1: I'm good with that. I mean their offense without him

457
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 1: is I mean, it's just it's non existent. Like he

458
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,200
Speaker 1: is the offense. That's why I don't think they're a

459
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,560
Speaker 1: title team. They're too young, they're a little unbalanced offensively,

460
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:46,959
Speaker 1: they're physical. He's a star. So my argument is, how

461
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,399
Speaker 1: could Jokich be the most valuable player in a league

462
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:53,080
Speaker 1: when he's less valuable to his own team than he

463
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,800
Speaker 1: was a year ago? And I love Jokic, So if

464
00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,240
Speaker 1: I said to you, you got to play sixty five games,

465
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 1: Caid Cunningham's the MVP, how does that sit with you?

466
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,600
Speaker 9: He certainly having an MVP season. I'm you know, I'm

467
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,880
Speaker 9: fine with that. My only counter would be that if

468
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,680
Speaker 9: somebody like Jokic can play in only fifty games and

469
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 9: they can still be second or third in the West,

470
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,119
Speaker 9: you know, in what he's doing on the floor when

471
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:18,919
Speaker 9: they're on their floor, it's you know, he still has

472
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:20,720
Speaker 9: to be accounted for. I mean, he's great, and it's

473
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,320
Speaker 9: definitely going to carry a team all by itself to

474
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,879
Speaker 9: fifty five wins or nearly every season. But yeah, I

475
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,000
Speaker 9: think I'm all for what the league's done to try

476
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:32,440
Speaker 9: to counter the tanking it is. There's gonna be some

477
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,560
Speaker 9: unfortunate cases. There just is going to be, you know,

478
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,240
Speaker 9: but I don't think saying that kid Cunningham as an

479
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:40,639
Speaker 9: MVP is is saying that he's not worthy.

480
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:41,840
Speaker 2: I think he's had a season.

481
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:44,119
Speaker 9: You know, they got one of the best records in

482
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,920
Speaker 9: the league, if not the best record in win percentage wise.

483
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, if I said to you, Aunt Edwards obviously is

484
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:54,680
Speaker 1: three point shot is much better. But you know, I

485
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 1: think you know, the difference between college and pro is.

486
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,040
Speaker 1: At the pro level, if you don't play defense, you're

487
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 1: getting eaten alive. You're gonna give up twenty seven points.

488
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:09,160
Speaker 1: On the other end, how much with Aunt Edwards defense

489
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 1: is it coaching listening? How much has been his commitment

490
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 1: to it? Because you you know, there are some stars

491
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 1: in this league. We all know the Lucas story where

492
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:22,320
Speaker 1: he's a liability. How do you get highly compensated, gifted

493
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,880
Speaker 1: offensive guys. What's the secret to make them play defense

494
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,199
Speaker 1: where you don't get any credit. It's hard, you can

495
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: get burned constantly, but it's hugely important.

496
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:33,840
Speaker 2: Yeah.

497
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 9: I think you know, first off, Anthony is certainly not

498
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,040
Speaker 9: a liability defensively. I think he has an opportunity and

499
00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:44,040
Speaker 9: the talent to be elite at that end of the floor.

500
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,560
Speaker 9: And there are times when he just takes over defensively,

501
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 9: whether it's taking on a matchup or making plays. You know,

502
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 9: some of the plays he makes latent games defensively or

503
00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,159
Speaker 9: spectacular nature. We've seen a lot of really good blocks,

504
00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:01,920
Speaker 9: great blocks, timely blocks. And for me, it's it's, you know,

505
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 9: it's kind of like, what's the pathway to being great?

506
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:05,640
Speaker 2: Next?

507
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 9: What's the next step? And I think he can be

508
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,560
Speaker 9: the best two way player in the league. And I

509
00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,159
Speaker 9: think that's his platform for being an MVP candidate. Uh

510
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,119
Speaker 9: And you know, he has a huge load offensively, and

511
00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:18,119
Speaker 9: you know, one of the things that you know, all

512
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:20,159
Speaker 9: these players here when they come into the league, and

513
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:22,440
Speaker 9: there's some truth to it. I've never scored thirty points

514
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,520
Speaker 9: in the NBA. It must be must be hard to

515
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,240
Speaker 9: do on a night tonight basis. And you can only

516
00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 9: put your energy certain places at certain times. But you

517
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 9: can't just you know, punt on defense just because you

518
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:35,880
Speaker 9: use a lot of energy on offense. I think there's

519
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 9: also a way to maybe you know, I'm not talking

520
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:40,760
Speaker 9: about just with ant, but in general, you know, be

521
00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:42,680
Speaker 9: a little more efficient on offense, so you could be

522
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:44,159
Speaker 9: a little better on defense too.

523
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 2: So we try not to buy into those mantras.

524
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,840
Speaker 9: And you know the great thing about Ann is he

525
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 9: always he always meets the high moments, and when we

526
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,479
Speaker 9: need a most you know he'll step up and play defense.

527
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 9: But coming down the stretch here, we've asked him to

528
00:27:57,800 --> 00:27:59,920
Speaker 9: be better defensively, and so far he's responded.

529
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 1: So I moved to Chicago from Los Angeles, and everybody

530
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:05,760
Speaker 1: in LA is like, oh, you're going to move back,

531
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,000
Speaker 1: it's just too cold, And I'm like, it's called a jacket.

532
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,679
Speaker 1: I grew up in Seattle. I know a wet and cold.

533
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 1: So you live in the only place in America colder

534
00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 1: than where I live. You live in Minneapolis, and guys Jmak,

535
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:23,360
Speaker 1: who's wearing his Luca jersey on the beach six days

536
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:28,840
Speaker 1: a week, tell him the advantages to being in cold weather.

537
00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:33,639
Speaker 1: Minneapolis has smart, civic minded people. It's are you fine

538
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 1: in Minneapolis with the weather?

539
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,400
Speaker 9: I'm fine Minneapolis. I look forward to the season, seasonal change. Yeah,

540
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:43,000
Speaker 9: had some variety. Yeah, what you find is where I've

541
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 9: lived all over the world, and one thing I've always

542
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,440
Speaker 9: impressed me about wherever I've lived with people is that

543
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 9: they lean into what's going on around him. I didn't

544
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,280
Speaker 9: even know snowshoeing was something people did. I thought it

545
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 9: was I thought it was just something people did in cartoons.

546
00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,680
Speaker 9: But apparently it's an activity. And you know, people are

547
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 9: out in the winter enjoying the winter for what it

548
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:07,040
Speaker 9: offers and whether it be cross country skiing, playing hockey,

549
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 9: all these things. You know, very active people in Minnesota,

550
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,240
Speaker 9: and they enjoy all seasons including winter.

551
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm going ice fishing and Tuesday. So I love

552
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,680
Speaker 1: this stuff. Hey, Chris, it's great to see it. Congrats

553
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: and the success four straight playoff appearances for the t Wolves,

554
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 1: top seven defensive rating on my screen and great seeing

555
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 1: you again.

556
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,640
Speaker 2: Thanks Carl. I appreciate you having me on you bet he.

557
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:31,960
Speaker 1: Was coaching and they were winning last night as Aunt

558
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 1: hit a big shot down the stretch NFL Combine this weekend.

559
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 1: J Mac I was talking to Middlecoff about this last

560
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,480
Speaker 1: night in the podcast. I watch less of it now

561
00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,600
Speaker 1: than I did like three years ago, and I think

562
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 1: a lot of it is. I talked to a lot

563
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,720
Speaker 1: of different people, and it's I mean, when you have

564
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,800
Speaker 1: the Rams and the Jags playoff teams, being like, I'm

565
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,360
Speaker 1: not going to send people. I don't think it's terribly authentic.

566
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,520
Speaker 1: I think all the interviews are prepped. Everybody's in the

567
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 1: world's best shape. Uh you know, I I think you

568
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 1: can get it all done at Pro Days. How much

569
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,000
Speaker 1: NFL combine will you watch this weekend?

570
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,240
Speaker 5: I'm more of an NBA college basketball guy this Commas season,

571
00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:13,080
Speaker 5: Colin So, I mean you could you could catch the

572
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,840
Speaker 5: clips online? Obviously the forty yard dash, Yeah, what do

573
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 5: I need to watch some guy putting up bench press

574
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,640
Speaker 5: like thirty reps for Like, there's just no value there.

575
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 1: And plus people overreact to this stuff. Sonny Styles.

576
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 5: You know, nobody drafts a linebacker early, but Sonny Styles

577
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,880
Speaker 5: tested off the chart yesterday, right, unbelievable, maybe the greatest

578
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:31,520
Speaker 5: performance ever.

579
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:33,720
Speaker 1: And now there's like, do the Jets take him at two?

580
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:38,200
Speaker 5: Let's slow down, guys, Like, I know we're desperate for football,

581
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:40,800
Speaker 5: but like, hey, maybe let's take in the Timberwolves Clippers

582
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,480
Speaker 5: and enjoy Anthony Edwards and watch some college hoops.

583
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:44,600
Speaker 2: Illinois Michigan tonight.

584
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,080
Speaker 1: So that's what's on that's on Fox. That is a

585
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:49,280
Speaker 1: real that's one of the best college games of the

586
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:55,200
Speaker 1: year tonight, Michigan in Champagne against Illinois. These are teams

587
00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 1: that could make the final four the Minnesotaly. These four

588
00:30:59,040 --> 00:30:59,920
Speaker 1: level teams.

589
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,360
Speaker 5: Leo di Somo, the guy who was at Illinois a

590
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 5: few years ago. Great player, new addition to the Wolf

591
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:07,400
Speaker 5: So like I basketball listen marches basketball time.

592
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 2: You know that right,