Speaker 1: From the King of sports Books comes the key sports
Speaker 1: podcast Unleashed, presented by the MGM. Here's your host, Olivia
Speaker 1: Harland Decker. Hello and welcome back to Unleashed by bet MGM,
Speaker 1: the King of Sports Books. I'm Olivia Harland Decker and
Speaker 1: I'm glad to have you with us. Another week and
Speaker 1: it's a big week in sports. The tennis French Open
Speaker 1: just wrapped up, the golf US Open starts this weekend
Speaker 1: from the South course of Tory Pines, and of course
Speaker 1: NBA Playoffs, which we always give you a little juice on.
Speaker 1: The conference semifinals wrapping up this weekend in the NHL,
Speaker 1: the Stanley Cup Semifinals, College World Series, European Championship in soccer.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it's a lot, and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: bring on bet MGMs expert Peter Andrew. He'll be on
Speaker 1: later in the show to break down Betty nods and
Speaker 1: tell you how to navigate everything in the world of
Speaker 1: sports gambling this week. But first it is Golf's US
Speaker 1: Open week, so let's turn our focus there. It's the
Speaker 1: third major of the year, of course there are four,
Speaker 1: and most recently we saw Phil Mickelson win the PGA
Speaker 1: Championship at Kiowa Island, making history at age fifty. Well,
Speaker 1: guess what, he turns fifty one on Wednesday, and there's
Speaker 1: some hope and buzz around him. Should he win two
Speaker 1: in a row in his fifties, the second one giving
Speaker 1: him his career Grand Slam. Oh my gosh, start writing
Speaker 1: the book now. It's going to be one of the
Speaker 1: best stories in sports. Also, brooks Kepka is coming off
Speaker 1: a missed cut. He's looking to win his third US
Speaker 1: Open in five years. He's just thirty one years old.
Speaker 1: That would be monumental and the heavy favorite John Ram
Speaker 1: he came down with COVID earlier this month and had
Speaker 1: to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament, which he was leading
Speaker 1: by six strokes. He passed COVID product call. He's at
Speaker 1: Tory Pines on time, practicing. He's ready to go. He's
Speaker 1: one here in his plus one thousand to win the tournament. Well,
Speaker 1: that's enough for me. Let's hear from someone who was
Speaker 1: actually playing in the tournament. It's Maxhoma. He's a national
Speaker 1: champion from cal He got his first PGA Tour victory
Speaker 1: at the Wells Fargo Championship two years ago and most
Speaker 1: recently he won at the beginning of the year at
Speaker 1: the Genesis Invitational. We caught up with him right before
Speaker 1: he left for San Diego. He's super interesting. Our conversation
Speaker 1: kind of went everywhere you are going to want to
Speaker 1: listen start to finish. So without further ado, let's bring
Speaker 1: in Maxima. Maxima is a pro on the PGA Tour.
Speaker 1: He's a two time tour winner, podcast host, hilarious social
Speaker 1: media personality, some say Golf's Twitter king, which what a title.
Speaker 1: And our guest this week on Unleashed max Welcome to
Speaker 1: the show. Yeah, thank you for me. We're so excited
Speaker 1: you're on. You are so busy. But I've got to
Speaker 1: ask of one thing that recently came up on Twitter.
Speaker 1: A fan tweeting you for twenty five straight days to
Speaker 1: play golf with him. You finally cracked. I'm curious, have
Speaker 1: you played yet? Are you gonna wait till the season
Speaker 1: is done? And why did you crack? Yeah? I think
Speaker 1: I cracked because I'm a bit of a pushover and
Speaker 1: you have a bit more of a backbone. Um, But yeah,
Speaker 1: we talked about playing. I told him might need to
Speaker 1: wait till the season kind of dies down. We're in
Speaker 1: the thick of it at the moment, but I just think,
Speaker 1: you know, it's harmless, it's fun. You know, what could
Speaker 1: go wrong and I might need to show up with
Speaker 1: some kind of security or at least you know, right
Speaker 1: my last will and testament before Ley. Now, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: He seems like a really nice kid. It'll be fun.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping to figure out a way to raise money
Speaker 1: for charity somehow along the way, so I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to it. But we're gonna wait a little bit, so
Speaker 1: we we both have a little bit of time off.
Speaker 1: That's pretty cool. It's very allah Kylie Jenner, who I
Speaker 1: think what to prom with Someone on Twitter who asked,
Speaker 1: so you and Kylie Gender have a lot in common? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that might be the only thing we have in common.
Speaker 1: I know you are though. You're very funny on Twitter,
Speaker 1: very self deprecating, which I think people find so endearing.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite tweets I'm gonna quote this one
Speaker 1: is you tweeted I had a few caddies hit me
Speaker 1: up recently hoping to team up. They heard they usually
Speaker 1: get weekends off, which is apparently a great selling point.
Speaker 1: Why do you think You're humor resonates so well with people.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think everybody likes to laugh. I
Speaker 1: like to laugh. I don't take myself super seriously. I
Speaker 1: take what I do seriously, but outside of that, it's
Speaker 1: I know, everybody's living their own life, everybody's going through
Speaker 1: their own stuff. So it's like, you know, if I
Speaker 1: take myself too seriously to the to the public, you
Speaker 1: know what, what, what do they really care? And I
Speaker 1: wouldn't either if I was them. So I just try
Speaker 1: and I don't know, I just I just try and
Speaker 1: understand that, you know, a smile here and there, if
Speaker 1: you could make that happen is really cool. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't mind being self def getting at times. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I went back and read through some of those and
Speaker 1: realized I was overdoing it to the dutchriment of my
Speaker 1: own psyche. You probably, but it's worked out now. Trying
Speaker 1: to find a little balance between self deprecating and some
Speaker 1: form of confidence. Well, I assume you're feeling pretty confident
Speaker 1: right now. You're fresh off a top ten finish at
Speaker 1: the Memorial Tournament. What's feeling strongest in your game right
Speaker 1: now or when you're at your level? Can Uven pinpoint
Speaker 1: something that was a great segue. By the way, I
Speaker 1: would like to get better though I'm a professional, Max,
Speaker 1: it shows, it shows right now, right now. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: guess I'll say something. I'm just a professional. At the moment.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm going through a routine that I've
Speaker 1: kind of built and come up with for myself, and
Speaker 1: I'm sticking to it, trusting, Like in the process of that,
Speaker 1: when I'm playing well, it does seem like my mind
Speaker 1: is quite calm and I'm very accepting, so like, you know,
Speaker 1: I know at all times, and if I hit a
Speaker 1: bad shot here, I'll be okay, and I'll hit a
Speaker 1: good one after that to kind of bounce back and
Speaker 1: understand that there's a bigger like there's a grand scheme
Speaker 1: to the game of golf, especially a tournament that one
Speaker 1: shot can't ruin. So that that's been going really well.
Speaker 1: And then obviously the physical parts of my game this
Speaker 1: year have been all pretty darn good. There haven't been
Speaker 1: too many big holes, so even if something is a
Speaker 1: little bit down, something else is carrying it. So it's
Speaker 1: just been that part of the season has been fun.
Speaker 1: And then yeah, just adding a bit of that mental
Speaker 1: fortitude and understanding a bit more has helped me play
Speaker 1: a lot more consistently. And yeah, I had a good
Speaker 1: week last week, and that's kind of what it felt
Speaker 1: like a little more slow motion a little bit. I
Speaker 1: just felt like, again I was just accepting of what
Speaker 1: was going to happen, and that seems to always help
Speaker 1: me play place of my best golf. Kind of in
Speaker 1: that vein, there's a phrase, good golf travels. I'm sure
Speaker 1: tennis players feel the same. You know, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: because it's so individual, what do you rely on in
Speaker 1: pressure situations? Like do you believe that good golf travels? Yeah?
Speaker 1: For sure. Now you notice it more as you start
Speaker 1: to play professional golf. You have a I've got a
Speaker 1: lot of friends that I think are tremendous golfers, and
Speaker 1: you know, it just seems like they can't pinpoint either.
Speaker 1: When we get on the road, sometimes it just doesn't
Speaker 1: seem to travel, and it's odd. I don't know how
Speaker 1: to quantify it, but I would say that, you know,
Speaker 1: for the guys on the PGA Tour, it obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of translate to any city golf course wherever that
Speaker 1: you go. So yeah, when I'm in the heat of
Speaker 1: the moment. I definitely try to lean on past memories
Speaker 1: of having success, and especially on courses that I I've
Speaker 1: played a lot, so I can kind of try to
Speaker 1: almost visualize the shot I've hit on my home course,
Speaker 1: and you kind of transplant that into the course I'm
Speaker 1: on at that moment and just make it feel a
Speaker 1: little bit more like I'm just going, you know, going
Speaker 1: through the motions at home. But I guess you know,
Speaker 1: we've been or I've been doing this so long, a
Speaker 1: lot of it becomes second nature, so it's almost hard
Speaker 1: to pinpoint exactly how it works and how it comes about.
Speaker 1: But here and there, I'll definitely try, especially because my
Speaker 1: caddies from my hometown and we'll be like, hey, you
Speaker 1: know that shot we would hit on whole in Valencia.
Speaker 1: He'd like yeah, I was like, I kind of like
Speaker 1: that type think. So that helps when you're nervous, just
Speaker 1: because you're trying to make it as as simple as possible,
Speaker 1: that visualization. We've had so many impressive people in different
Speaker 1: fields on this podcast, and I feel like that's just
Speaker 1: a common thread. I don't know, if you listen to
Speaker 1: any of Tony Gonzalez's podcast or read any of his books.
Speaker 1: I should he went to cal so I shouldn't. Maybe
Speaker 1: I'll get on. Well, no, he his podcast is really good,
Speaker 1: but he always is talking about flow state and visualization.
Speaker 1: And he says, on the morning of a game, yeah
Speaker 1: I got into that. Yeah, Yeah, it's fascinating. He says,
Speaker 1: morning of a game, he'd wake up and truly in bed,
Speaker 1: like look at his hands and picture catching a football.
Speaker 1: And I always think that that would apply even to
Speaker 1: like someone in business before they give a presentation, like
Speaker 1: imagining walking out of that conference room having just killed it,
Speaker 1: Like is that do you think something that you really
Speaker 1: take advantage of? That whole flow state and visualization. Yeah.
Speaker 1: My buddy and I started talking about this like a
Speaker 1: few months ago, and we talked, you know, we just
Speaker 1: he always writes hashtag flow when he texts me, because
Speaker 1: that's what we'd like to strive for, is just to
Speaker 1: be able to go. I think it carries two things.
Speaker 1: One that you you kind of like you said, you
Speaker 1: you visualized it, you kind of already saw it and
Speaker 1: you feel it. But also the accepting part of after
Speaker 1: is that whatever comes in, nothing's gonna come into that world.
Speaker 1: So you know, if something bad happens, You're gonna keep
Speaker 1: flowing like nothing has changed and approach the next situation
Speaker 1: with the same amount of focus that you would have
Speaker 1: had the bad thing not happened. But yeah, I think
Speaker 1: visualization in golf is really important when you're nervous or
Speaker 1: when you're seeing bad stuff kind of or feeling bad
Speaker 1: stuff happen. So sometimes if I'm really really nervous over
Speaker 1: a shot and I feel like I'm seeing the ball,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm nervous about going in the water, I'm
Speaker 1: nervous about going in the in the sand or something,
Speaker 1: I like over visualize my golf ball flying in the
Speaker 1: air and I almost picture like a trail of it
Speaker 1: and like with a bright color, and it's just like,
Speaker 1: it's weird. How you if you see something happen over
Speaker 1: and over and over end when you're about to do it,
Speaker 1: it's just like you're reacting. So to your point about business,
Speaker 1: it's like you have to you don't have to do do
Speaker 1: what I guess it helps to see it happen first,
Speaker 1: so then so then you know you can do it.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be super nerdy, But I'm not sure
Speaker 1: if you've ever seen Harry Potter. But Harry Potter, there's
Speaker 1: this scene where it's like some time travel bs and
Speaker 1: you know, he didn't know he could do something, but
Speaker 1: he realized at one point that it was him in
Speaker 1: the future, so we already knew we could do it,
Speaker 1: so he just went and did it. And it's like, man,
Speaker 1: you have that in you all along. You could just
Speaker 1: have let it happen, but it's almost like we need
Speaker 1: to see ourselves be successful before we become successful. So
Speaker 1: that that's definitely a key that I think, at least
Speaker 1: it might were a lot of golfers use. So you're
Speaker 1: a Harry Potter and that analogy. I wish I was
Speaker 1: that cool, but yeah, maybe maybe sometimes here now I'm
Speaker 1: more I'm more wrong than Harry, but I'll take it
Speaker 1: here and there. Okay, I love that. I kind of
Speaker 1: brought up tennis earlier, just that that always seems to
Speaker 1: be the most equivalent to golf from from my standpoint
Speaker 1: of where the type of people you're around where you're playing.
Speaker 1: Individual sport a lot of attention at a young age,
Speaker 1: I think is another equivalent of the two. How do
Speaker 1: you describe what that's like from a kid having success
Speaker 1: individually as the stage continues to grow. Yeah, and again
Speaker 1: you're you're not on a team, you're not competing for
Speaker 1: a championship in that way, you know it's and then
Speaker 1: you want it all of course at cal Yeah, that
Speaker 1: it's really difficult. Getting to play high school golf and
Speaker 1: college golf with the team does help. When you get
Speaker 1: out on your own, it's difficult because I feel like
Speaker 1: I've always been in a in a in a weird
Speaker 1: way like envous at times of other sports and other
Speaker 1: athletes because you know, let's just say, Mookie Bets for
Speaker 1: the Dodgers could go over four, have a bad game,
Speaker 1: but you know they could win, and you're you know,
Speaker 1: the day isn't ruined where if I play bad, it's
Speaker 1: bad that there's nothing that can help, that I can't
Speaker 1: save myself with a partner. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: that means that, you know, I don't actually have to
Speaker 1: rely on anybody else to help me get to where
Speaker 1: I'm going. It's all on me and that manner two
Speaker 1: And I like that part, but it's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1: But like you said, I think for tennis or for golf,
Speaker 1: you know we've been doing it so long you get
Speaker 1: so used to it. And I think the maturing process
Speaker 1: is understanding that you're going to have some bad days
Speaker 1: and it's going to feel like the world's coming down,
Speaker 1: But it's not. Because everyone has a bad day here
Speaker 1: and there. It's just a little bit more under the
Speaker 1: microscope when it's just an individual sport. So it's tough.
Speaker 1: But I'll tell you, when you win or when you
Speaker 1: do something great, you know, it all falls back on you.
Speaker 1: That's when you realize that all the struggle parts are
Speaker 1: worth it. Absolutely. And probably it's annoying as a pro
Speaker 1: golfer because a lot of people do it amaturely. They
Speaker 1: do it with their friends on weekends. It's like a
Speaker 1: treat to be able to go out in golf. I know,
Speaker 1: my husband and I that's like our favorite date. But
Speaker 1: the problem is is anyone who has a good round
Speaker 1: thinks that they're amazing and and can do it. And
Speaker 1: you watch on TV and you're probably like critiquing you
Speaker 1: know what clubs you're using even And I mean is
Speaker 1: that annoying? Like do people come up to you all
Speaker 1: the time and and talk golf as if they're at
Speaker 1: your level? Yeah? Times here and there, it's kind of
Speaker 1: that's kind of the fun part. The only annoying part
Speaker 1: about like those people as I'm always so jealous that
Speaker 1: you guys that like that's the hobby, because I wish
Speaker 1: I had a hobby that was like outside and competitive,
Speaker 1: Yet you know I don't. It's always hard to have
Speaker 1: a hobby. So I'm always jealous. But yeah, I get it.
Speaker 1: You can drink at Yeah, you can drink at it
Speaker 1: like I can't. I don't get to do a whole
Speaker 1: lot of that. But it's in golf because there's this
Speaker 1: connection that I've always said is even if you're somebody
Speaker 1: who's like a twenty handicap and you've never broke ninety
Speaker 1: before and you have a put on the last hole
Speaker 1: for eighty nine, you've probably felt the exact same level
Speaker 1: of nervous as a professional, you know, PGA tour players
Speaker 1: felt because it's all relative, so it's the same thing.
Speaker 1: So I find that so cool. Now. Every once in
Speaker 1: a while when somebody goes, oh, man, I saw you
Speaker 1: hit that bad shot, it's like, yeah, well, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't have to tell you, man, try
Speaker 1: try my best out here. Yeah, I know, you can
Speaker 1: play pickup back, but it's not like you would ever
Speaker 1: be able to to Lebron James or something and related also,
Speaker 1: golf does have that opening, and I think that's cool
Speaker 1: for the sport. Yeah, it's funny. These last couple of
Speaker 1: weeks especially, there's been a lot of attention on athletes
Speaker 1: mental health, but last couple of years, I feel like
Speaker 1: kind of Kevin Love got the conversation started. But Naomi
Speaker 1: Osaka is what I'm mentioning is withdrawing from the French
Speaker 1: Open after a news conference dispute. Do you think it's
Speaker 1: good for all professional athletes for these type of topics
Speaker 1: to be brought up more mainstream and how do you
Speaker 1: think this is going to affect things moving forward? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's really interesting. It's very noble of Naomi
Speaker 1: to do what she did. I do think that we
Speaker 1: have as athletes. I think you you have, especially someone
Speaker 1: like her who is clearly unbelievable, you kind of have
Speaker 1: an obligation to do these interviews. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: she has her right to say, you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to do it. And if she has to
Speaker 1: do with those repercussions or withdraw whatever it is, she
Speaker 1: understands that and I think it was very cool because
Speaker 1: I think that I think about all the time. Some
Speaker 1: players will have a bad week in golf, and I
Speaker 1: know that there may be going through a little something
Speaker 1: outside of the game of golf, family, whatever, You'll still
Speaker 1: see the same kind of negative attention towards them as
Speaker 1: far as like media or even fan engagement. And it's like, man,
Speaker 1: like you don't understand people are in robots. I know
Speaker 1: I would probably look at somebody on baseball film why
Speaker 1: is he throwing it so bad? Or why why can't
Speaker 1: you touch today? And it's like, man, maybe some else
Speaker 1: is going on that's not great. So it's great of
Speaker 1: her to bring attention to the fact that not everybody
Speaker 1: is a perfect lovely person every day of the week.
Speaker 1: Now everybody's gonna be happy at all times, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff. I mean, she talked about anxiety of
Speaker 1: talking in public, and she's got millions of people with
Speaker 1: their eyes on her at all times. So it was
Speaker 1: great that she can bring that point to light because
Speaker 1: she's a tremendous athlete, but she's also just a person
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, and you know, if
Speaker 1: that happened more often, I think people would be more
Speaker 1: willing to seek maybe a little bit of help or
Speaker 1: at least feel like there's a little bit more of
Speaker 1: a commonality to not feeling great all the time. That
Speaker 1: that was very cool. Yeah, I totally agree. It's great
Speaker 1: to have people even know the right verbiage to discuss
Speaker 1: these things with and it's huge. But with you, I mean,
Speaker 1: the field is so dense. When you get to the
Speaker 1: level you're at, it's so talented. So there's a lot
Speaker 1: of ups and downs in your profession. So if you
Speaker 1: could go back to National champ at cal you were
Speaker 1: an all pack twelve player, your name, you know, was
Speaker 1: so relevant and there was so much promise, and to
Speaker 1: think of everywhere you've gone since then, what would you
Speaker 1: tell yourself, like holding that trophy, what would you go
Speaker 1: back and tell yourself. I'd probably tell myself that whatever
Speaker 1: next level you go to and for the rest of
Speaker 1: your life to always to always remember that I am
Speaker 1: my favorite golfer. I love that because I think it's
Speaker 1: very easy to grow up and be around these people
Speaker 1: that you've watched and envy what they do, and at
Speaker 1: that moment, I'd be you know, I was holding a
Speaker 1: trophy for being you know, at that time kind of
Speaker 1: like the best player and call for the year kind
Speaker 1: of and or at least at that event, and I
Speaker 1: was at the top of you know, the college game
Speaker 1: for a week and there will be nothing. I would
Speaker 1: imagine other people were envying something that I did, and
Speaker 1: I would be the first to say I lost that
Speaker 1: understanding for a while by looking around too much instead
Speaker 1: of putting my head down, loving who I am and
Speaker 1: how I play the game, and then just going to
Speaker 1: be in me until I'm done playing this game. So
Speaker 1: I would, you know, I don't wish. I'm glad I
Speaker 1: learned this lesson, but whenever I think back to it,
Speaker 1: it's like, you know, put your chinna, put back your shoulders,
Speaker 1: stand up tall, and just say, you know, I think
Speaker 1: I'm the best one, and I love what I do
Speaker 1: and I'm just gonna go do it to the best
Speaker 1: of my abilities and not spend so much time looking
Speaker 1: around and wondering how these other people are doing what
Speaker 1: they do. It's funny, my dad has told me almost
Speaker 1: word for word those same sentences just getting into even broadcasting.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if maybe down the line, that's
Speaker 1: something you want to do in golf, because I think
Speaker 1: you'd be really good at it, but it's such a
Speaker 1: paranoid business in our own right. So my dad always says,
Speaker 1: you know, never look sideways, put your head down, do
Speaker 1: the work, be a pro. And I feel like maybe
Speaker 1: you two aren't hoots on that one. Yeah, we talked
Speaker 1: before this. Okay, Now I do have to mention you
Speaker 1: are a co host on your own podcast with Shane
Speaker 1: Bacon called Get a Grip, and it's kind of has
Speaker 1: the purpose of making light of a traditionally stuffy sport,
Speaker 1: and I think even in the bio of the podcast
Speaker 1: it says the public golf course of podcasts, which I
Speaker 1: really really appreciate. Tell me what this experience has been
Speaker 1: like for you. Has this been a challenge in any
Speaker 1: way or is it really natural? It is challenging in
Speaker 1: the sense that is not where I'm comfortable. Shane is
Speaker 1: a pro and he makes it so easy. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: been fun to have a little bit of a platform
Speaker 1: to talk about the weeks that I have on the course,
Speaker 1: and also so we can talk about some things that
Speaker 1: I know maybe are going to get misconstrued in the
Speaker 1: media for maybe some of the guys who want or
Speaker 1: who are struggling so I like that. It is a blast.
Speaker 1: I want golf to be more inclusive. I want more
Speaker 1: people to be interested in playing. And that's been the
Speaker 1: joy of it all. Yeah, it's hard and scary. Shane
Speaker 1: does like almost all the work. He makes it easy
Speaker 1: for me. I'd show up and talk, but he, you know,
Speaker 1: he comes up with some great ideas and typically formats
Speaker 1: most of the show. And I just kind of am
Speaker 1: a body. But no, I have a blast. It puts
Speaker 1: in and so much perspective how hard broadcasting is and
Speaker 1: commentating is, and you know, it's just it's amazing how
Speaker 1: professional everyone is that does it until your last point
Speaker 1: and the question before about how you know it's probably
Speaker 1: a paranoid thing to do because you're up there talking,
Speaker 1: you don't know, you don't have any reaction. It's not
Speaker 1: like being a comedian where someone will clap or laugh.
Speaker 1: Would you say something funny? It is? It is really
Speaker 1: eye opening how you say something and then you wait
Speaker 1: later to see if anybody liked or didn't like what
Speaker 1: you said. And I don't know. It's a very interesting
Speaker 1: world and not one I don't think I'm super interested
Speaker 1: in getting too deep and I have a hard enough
Speaker 1: time with what I do. But it has been fun,
Speaker 1: and nowadays I guess it's like the thing to do
Speaker 1: is like, hey, I have a podcast, so believe me,
Speaker 1: I feel the same. This is my first round of
Speaker 1: doing a podcast, having the time of my life. It's
Speaker 1: so fun. It feels like a break from work. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's one of those things you're like, want of be
Speaker 1: a guest on my podcast. Everyone has a podcast, but
Speaker 1: we really really appreciate you being at everyone does so.
Speaker 1: I think my mom is about the star line, right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's been a lot of fun. Thank you, and thanks
Speaker 1: for all your conversation on mental health as well. I
Speaker 1: think in athletics that's something that needs to be a
Speaker 1: conversation that has continued, so I appreciate your insight there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: of course, thank you so much, and for confirming that
Speaker 1: you are not Kylie Jenner or Harry Potter, although you
Speaker 1: have much much in common. Max. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us. Best of luck as you hit the
Speaker 1: road for three weeks in the middle of the golf season.
Speaker 1: Thank you again for your time. Thank you. Not a
Speaker 1: whole lot in common with them, but I'll take the
Speaker 1: little little thing all right. And coming up next, we
Speaker 1: have Peter Andrew with our Lions Locke. We welcome back
Speaker 1: Peter Andrew bet MGMs Betting Expert and we just kind
Speaker 1: of like to have months. We keep thinking him back. Peter,
Speaker 1: welcome back to the show. Thanks for having me. What
Speaker 1: a week does in terms of the NBA than a
Speaker 1: crazy couple of days, Oh, my gosh. Especially this past weekend,
Speaker 1: one of the biggest news out of the NBA was
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving's ankle injury. My gosh, that got tougher to
Speaker 1: watch the more they replayed it. And that's in addition
Speaker 1: to the Nets operating without James Harden. He's got a
Speaker 1: hamstring injury, so there's no timetable on either, and the
Speaker 1: Bucks tied up the series. How are those injuries affecting
Speaker 1: the spread it in the series in general? Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: if you think about what Steve Nash said, they're not
Speaker 1: going to force back James Harden if he's not ready,
Speaker 1: which is the right move. Of course, he's been out
Speaker 1: since Game one where he hurt himself, and then you
Speaker 1: obviously had Kyrie's pretty tough to look at high ankle sprain,
Speaker 1: which you know, if anybody has ever had one, It's
Speaker 1: it's tough to walk, let alone play professional basketball. So
Speaker 1: I think you have to take a look at what
Speaker 1: the Bucks are doing. There by no means a sloush team.
Speaker 1: Janice playing at a high level. K D is capable
Speaker 1: of holding a team together, but it's gonna be really,
Speaker 1: really difficult against this Bucks team that that seemingly learned
Speaker 1: how to play together in the last couple of games.
Speaker 1: Middleton's defending better, he's shooting better, is all over the floor.
Speaker 1: You know. I'm looking at them, and I'm looking at
Speaker 1: the Suns out of the West as a potential matchup.
Speaker 1: If you were to take those two teams, you're looking
Speaker 1: at plus five hundred for that exact outcome come the
Speaker 1: NBA Finals. I think whoever comes out of this Brooklyn
Speaker 1: Bucks series looks better than the other side of things,
Speaker 1: where you have the Sixers that have looked good as
Speaker 1: of late, can be a little bit shaky, and the
Speaker 1: Hawks are having a tough go. The last couple of
Speaker 1: games came force Tonight's Ultimately, I think that will determine
Speaker 1: where they lie. I really like how the Bucks have
Speaker 1: played the last few games, and I think a couple
Speaker 1: that with the injuries it's gonna be tough for the Nets.
Speaker 1: You know, Peter, I like when we get to talk
Speaker 1: about this stuff because you come at it from such
Speaker 1: an analytic standpoint. I come at it from like a
Speaker 1: sideline reporter standpoint. And I'm very familiar with this Bucks team. Again,
Speaker 1: I've I've covered this whole coaching staff and these players.
Speaker 1: You see something change in their eyes. You see like
Speaker 1: light at the end of the tunnel. You know that
Speaker 1: now they feel a little bit more confident. I think
Speaker 1: that was very obvious Sunday night. Absolutely, and you can
Speaker 1: probably compare that's what happened in Game four for the
Speaker 1: Nuggets and the Suns as well. Yo Kis gets kicked
Speaker 1: out of the game, and the same thing happened with
Speaker 1: the Suns where they almost had that firelight under them
Speaker 1: and said we can close this out. Now. They just
Speaker 1: lost their best player, which is essentially what happened, one
Speaker 1: of three of the nets best players, and it just
Speaker 1: gives them that actual little motivation to say we can
Speaker 1: do this. And now they're going and you know, essentially
Speaker 1: a three game series with two of the nets best
Speaker 1: players probably out for the remainder of the games and
Speaker 1: are saying we can absolutely do this, So I think
Speaker 1: you have to look at that and the fandom part,
Speaker 1: in the non Adalymics part, you know, it means a lot.
Speaker 1: It's part of the game and they're definitely feeling good
Speaker 1: about themselves going into Game five, so I'm completely with you.
Speaker 1: And then going to that Sun series, I mean they
Speaker 1: took that with Yo kich It was a hard foul
Speaker 1: to say the least, and once he got that flagrant too,
Speaker 1: they said the same thing and you just saw them.
Speaker 1: They played well the whole game, but that was their
Speaker 1: way to really close it out. You know. CP three
Speaker 1: absolutely took over. You didn't need to, you know, similar
Speaker 1: to what your dad said last week. You didn't need
Speaker 1: Devin Booker to be aggressive. You just played good basketball.
Speaker 1: The world really revolves around CP three and how he plays, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, getting people involved. That mid range shot that
Speaker 1: was gone from the NBA for a couple of years
Speaker 1: and now it's back. I love what the sons have
Speaker 1: been doing CP three. I think he's plus finals M
Speaker 1: v P. If they're playing this way and they're playing
Speaker 1: team basketball like that. DeAndre Ayton Devin book are contributing.
Speaker 1: Of course, Chris Paul running the show. They've got a really,
Speaker 1: really good shot of taking it all. Did you hear
Speaker 1: my dad's call last night where he calls Chris Paul Houdini. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like I told him last week on the other side
Speaker 1: of the TV, just think about us. Laugh. And that
Speaker 1: was another great one. I was thinking of you, Peter.
Speaker 1: I was like, I think he's doing that just for
Speaker 1: Peter Andrew and the Unleashed podcast, because he's just giving
Speaker 1: us great fodder. The only the only thing missing was
Speaker 1: calling you and I out right, but everything else in
Speaker 1: the back of his mind, he was thinking about us.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned finals m v P Okay, So you
Speaker 1: like Chris Paul at plus Kevin Durant still leads at
Speaker 1: plus three. Do you do you still feel like he's
Speaker 1: the dominating force we thought a couple of weeks ago. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do think so, but it's going to be difficult.
Speaker 1: You got Kyrie who's hitting big shots. James James Harden
Speaker 1: was playing that role of a CP three where he's
Speaker 1: getting other people involved. It's gonna be really hard to
Speaker 1: replace that. You look at what a guy like James
Speaker 1: Harden Kyrie does for player like Joe Harris. I don't
Speaker 1: think that happens now missing three of your your big three.
Speaker 1: So Durant will still contribute and put thirty up a night.
Speaker 1: But is that enough when a team is playing full
Speaker 1: five player basketball, and I don't think it's the case.
Speaker 1: So you know, Durant will keep them in games, but
Speaker 1: can they finish off? Will they play good defensively? Yet
Speaker 1: to be seen, So it's gonna be tough. What's an
Speaker 1: NBA parlay card? Do you like? So? I think the
Speaker 1: Clippers came out and looked really impressive in Game three.
Speaker 1: They made this a series again. I like the Clippers
Speaker 1: to continue that momentum, and then I liked the Bucks
Speaker 1: next game, and I think probably the next two games,
Speaker 1: especially when they go back to Milwaukee for Game six.
Speaker 1: I would combine the two of those very simple money line.
Speaker 1: I think you put those two together and you're looking good.
Speaker 1: Clippers had to figure things out for the first couple
Speaker 1: of games. I'm not sold on the Jazz, and I
Speaker 1: think they're going to start to exploit them a little
Speaker 1: bit better. I think you have to ride with momentum.
Speaker 1: This is taking the analytics out of the game, but
Speaker 1: you have to ride a momentum. When Kauai has a
Speaker 1: good game. That's gonna help drive him when the Bucks
Speaker 1: have a situation like had happened in Game four, similar things.
Speaker 1: So I think you try to ride those for the
Speaker 1: next two, you're gonna get decent value. You combine the two,
Speaker 1: you'll get plus money. So I like ride the momentum there. Well,
Speaker 1: we just finished up our interview with Max Homa. He's
Speaker 1: playing in the US Open. It's the third major of
Speaker 1: the year, and all signs point to John Rom. I'm
Speaker 1: looking right now. Leader after the first round. He's plus
Speaker 1: eighteen hundred. Top five after first round John Ram is
Speaker 1: plus four hundred. I mean he is just such a
Speaker 1: heavy favorite going into this weekend. Yeah, John Ram is
Speaker 1: playing great golf. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago the
Speaker 1: Memorial he had to withdraw due to his COVID test.
Speaker 1: But he's taken two tests. He's ready to go. He
Speaker 1: is arguably the most complete golfer right now. He's played
Speaker 1: well at Torry Pines before. I think a lot of
Speaker 1: this is going to really rely on how well you
Speaker 1: play at that course. It's playing really long this week,
Speaker 1: something around seventy eight hundred yards are saying potentially, so
Speaker 1: you need guys that are gonna play long balls, consistent balls.
Speaker 1: Anybody that's getting a little bit messy off the tees
Speaker 1: is going to have some trouble. I think his stat
Speaker 1: is ninth this year on the tour in bogey avoidance,
Speaker 1: which essentially means how can he take that first bat
Speaker 1: shot and turn it into a bar or turn it
Speaker 1: into a birdie. He's done really well there. I like
Speaker 1: him to lead after the first round and then plus
Speaker 1: one thousand just to win the tournament. I think he
Speaker 1: is your clear odds on favorite couple other guys. I
Speaker 1: like Patrick Read Tony Finale. They both played earlier this
Speaker 1: year at the Farmers which was at Tory Pines. Read
Speaker 1: came in first and Female tied for second. You know,
Speaker 1: had one tough day. I think it was Day three
Speaker 1: where we shot a couple over par. Both those guys
Speaker 1: know how to play the course again, really really consistent.
Speaker 1: You got to stay out of the rough at Tory
Speaker 1: where it seems like it's six inches high. Read is
Speaker 1: plus hundred, Female very similar plus twenty. I think both
Speaker 1: those guys have a really good shot again if they
Speaker 1: just stick to their game plan, hit those long balls.
Speaker 1: Fenwe seemingly you can hit it three thirty to three
Speaker 1: fifty with almost no force. So if those guys play
Speaker 1: their game, I think they have a good out of
Speaker 1: taken it all. Okay, we're talking earlier. Fun market. Hole
Speaker 1: in one on day one. Tell us a little bit
Speaker 1: about that. Yeah, so I feel like this is the
Speaker 1: fan perspective again. But I feel like anytime you see
Speaker 1: the highlights of day one, you always see someone nail
Speaker 1: hole in one. So plus four it's a fun one.
Speaker 1: I think there's a couple of makable hold ones. So
Speaker 1: plus four hundred just throw a couple of bucks and
Speaker 1: you'll see a good return there. The other one, I like,
Speaker 1: you know, there's all this conversation around Bryson and kept Um,
Speaker 1: so we have a market that's head to head betting
Speaker 1: of just who would finish better over the course of
Speaker 1: the tournament that kept because even money a plus a hundred.
Speaker 1: I think he's in Bryson's head a little bit. The
Speaker 1: way he said the chirping in the banter is good
Speaker 1: for Dolphin. He's right. Bryson is one of those kind
Speaker 1: of buy the books guys and Brooks just lets it fly.
Speaker 1: I think he loves it. He loves the alright, Brooks,
Speaker 1: he's so I like him getting in his head a
Speaker 1: little bit. I think, you know, the shamba has a
Speaker 1: chance of missing the cut, so I like Brooks to
Speaker 1: to win the head to head verson That's right. I
Speaker 1: love the alright, Brooks. You love golf banter. It's just
Speaker 1: such a formal sport you love when it seems almost
Speaker 1: more relatable and kind of like other sports we love
Speaker 1: to talk about on this show. Peter Andrew, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for giving us your advice this week. Absolutely
Speaker 1: sounds like me on the golf course with you, all right, Brooks,
Speaker 1: and so looking forward to a little bit more of
Speaker 1: that banter. Thanks Peter, take care, Thanks everyone for listening.
Speaker 1: It is going to be a great weekend in sports.
Speaker 1: A lot going on, so make sure you follow bet
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