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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to

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Speaker 1: catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in

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Speaker 1: your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio

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Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.

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Speaker 2: You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

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Speaker 3: Ah, here we go, we are live.

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Speaker 1: It's The Herd wherever you may be and however you

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Speaker 1: may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.

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Speaker 1: John Middlecop is going to be filled in for the

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Speaker 1: next three days. My buddy, John Middlecop got a very

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Speaker 1: popular podcast at the volume three and out former NFL scout.

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Speaker 1: You know, you're a self admitted football guy, and I

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Speaker 1: like football more than basketball. But I did grow up

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Speaker 1: in the seventies and the Pacific Northwest with Bill Walton

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Speaker 1: and the Blazers and the Sonics, and people always lament

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Speaker 1: the seventies NBA. John, there was no great dynasties. And

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Speaker 1: I defend him because I collect basketball cards when every

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Speaker 1: other had baseball cards. But I got to admit last

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Speaker 1: night that kind of felt like a nothing burger, did

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Speaker 1: it not?

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Speaker 2: It was a big win for the small markets. I

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Speaker 2: guess I.

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Speaker 3: Guess it was that a small story.

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Speaker 1: Listen, we have entered in the last seven years, a

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Speaker 1: new NBA, the champions. They're good teams. Jo Kich the

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Speaker 1: only All Star on Denver. Yeah, you can. You can

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Speaker 1: see him, Thunders, Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, Bucks, Lakers, Raptors, Folks.

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Speaker 1: OKC has one Elite score. He had three bad games,

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Speaker 1: shot twenty four percent from three chat Hongren disappeared for

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Speaker 1: five games. J. Dubb disappeared for several and they won.

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Speaker 1: That's the champion. I'm not sure they do if Halliburton

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Speaker 1: remains in the game. Baseball's best teams right now are

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Speaker 1: stacked and feel like it. Attendance ratings up. The NFL's

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Speaker 1: best teams Ravens, Kansas City, Philadelphia, stacked ratings up. The

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Speaker 1: new NBA. It's like you're battling the CBA as much

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Speaker 1: as opponents. In fact, Okase is so young they could

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Speaker 1: potentially be significantly better over the next three years than

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Speaker 1: this season. They've got two first round picks. They're young

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Speaker 1: players like homebren who's talented but wildly uneven. You have

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Speaker 1: no idea what you're getting quarter to quarter. J Dubb

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Speaker 1: what a ceiling, but what a disappearing act. Alex Caruso

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Speaker 1: literally had to show okac's young players how to open

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Speaker 1: champagne bottles. America's event driven. Now it's a Tom Cruise movie,

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Speaker 1: a Taylor Swift Tour, the World Cup, the College Football Playoff,

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Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, and these NBA playoffs. I know I

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Speaker 1: tried to defend them, but last night, after that Halliburton injury,

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Speaker 1: it felt small. I don't want every NBA champion to

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Speaker 1: feel like the two thousand and four Chauncey Billups Pistons.

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Speaker 3: I don't.

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Speaker 1: Last night, I'm watching that game because I'm a sportscaster.

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Speaker 1: I missed MJ's Bulls, Katie Steph Clay Draymond Warriors, the

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Speaker 1: heatles Hell. I missed the Duncan Manu Tony Parker Spurs.

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Speaker 1: This is not a knock on Oklahoma City. They won

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Speaker 1: due to roster construction and depth, which is not exactly

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Speaker 1: a great movie poster. The new NBA is the era

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Speaker 1: of accounting where you have to draft really well and

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Speaker 1: develop really well and then cross your fingers, where players

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Speaker 1: stay healthy and the last team standing was the healthiest

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Speaker 1: and maybe has the best GM and has tremendous roster construction.

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Speaker 1: But again, that doesn't get me to goosebumps. This felt

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Speaker 1: like a great day for Oklahoma, maybe a neat day

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Speaker 1: for Oklahoma and surrounding areas. And I know I sound

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Speaker 1: like a buzzkill. I'm not telling you how to feel.

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Speaker 1: I'm just telling you how I feel. I think Indiana

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Speaker 1: ten years from now will be the team you remember now.

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Speaker 3: Maybe I'm wrong.

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Speaker 1: Maybe OKC goes on to win six titles, seven and

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Speaker 1: they're one of the greatest dynasties ever because the new

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Speaker 1: CBA doesn't allow for star stacking, and really the gms

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Speaker 1: will be as big as the players. But when I

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Speaker 1: watched the Dodgers podres last week, it jumped off the television.

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Speaker 1: The animosity, the intensity, the stars, it was everywhere. And

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Speaker 1: I felt last night there's the old saying video killed

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Speaker 1: the radio star, and the new CBA has killed basketball stars.

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Speaker 1: They can't play together. So just think about this in

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Speaker 1: terms of all time great teams, OKC has one elite

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Speaker 1: score three bad games, couldn't hit three pointers. The number

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Speaker 1: two and three scorers really struggled. I mean, Chet Holmgren

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Speaker 1: was the invisible man for like four games in the series,

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Speaker 1: maybe five, and they won. That's why Indiana was so captivating.

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Speaker 1: Rick Carlisle, the oldest coach in the league, the most

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Speaker 1: overrated player in Halliburton. If not for the injuries, maybe

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Speaker 1: I feel different. And I'm happy for Oklahoma City. They

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Speaker 1: have probably the best young executive in the league in

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Speaker 1: Sam Presty. But it felt small, and when the Celtics

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Speaker 1: lost Tatum and the injuries throughout the playoffs, it just

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Speaker 1: didn't feel big and it hasn't for seven years unless

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Speaker 1: your team won. And here's SGA after.

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Speaker 4: No matter what, Like, you go into every night wanting

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Speaker 4: to win and sometimes it just doesn't go your way,

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Speaker 4: and tonight could have been one of those nice but

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Speaker 4: we found a way. I'm so proud of his group.

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Speaker 4: I wouldn't have rather done it with any other group

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Speaker 4: in the world. It feels good to be a champion.

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Speaker 1: So I thought it was interesting. Earlier in the day,

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Speaker 1: the kd trade came down and people were so excited.

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Speaker 3: Here's what's funny.

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Speaker 1: He didn't have much of a market, but we were

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Speaker 1: so excited for basketball that you know, thirty six, thirty

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Speaker 1: seven year old Kati going to Houston felt bigger than

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Speaker 1: Game seven, especially after the Haliburton injury. So Kevin Durant

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Speaker 1: to the Rockets, I said this for the last two weeks.

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Speaker 3: Why isn't there a bigger market.

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Speaker 1: I do think this could help or hinder his legacy

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Speaker 1: because KD is starting to feel a little like old

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Speaker 1: Shack and current Aaron Rodgers kind of sad. Katie to

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Speaker 1: Brooklyn was an absolute mess. Katie to Phoenix was underwhelming,

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Speaker 1: although it should be noted Phoenix was about a five

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Speaker 1: hundred team when he played three and seventeen when he didn't,

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Speaker 1: so he wasn't the problem in Phoenix. I think it's

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Speaker 1: going to work. This to me, is the perfect place

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Speaker 1: to go. So they have things Phoenix didn't. They have

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Speaker 1: an infrastructure that the Suns didn't. Houston has a great coach,

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Speaker 1: they just gave him an extension. They have size Phoenix doesn't.

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Speaker 1: They've got depth. He didn't have to play sixty eight

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Speaker 1: games a year. They've got multiple players, Cam Whitmore, Javari

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Speaker 1: Smith reed Shephard he doesn't have to be on the

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Speaker 1: floor a lot until big games in the playoffs. So

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Speaker 1: I think this is exactly what Houston needs, And strangely,

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Speaker 1: It's exactly what Kevin Durant needs. A relevant team, excellent owner,

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Speaker 1: one of the top five richest owners in the sport,

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Speaker 1: excellent coach, lots of depth. Shen Goon will be the

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Speaker 1: centerpiece of the offense. Aman Thompson will be the defensive stopper,

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Speaker 1: and then the team has all sorts of length around him.

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Speaker 1: So Kevin does and have to be as great defensively

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Speaker 1: as he was probably six seven years ago. I mean,

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Speaker 1: Houston was held under ninety points twice by the Warriors.

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Speaker 1: They can't shoot, so he's absolutely necessary. I think he's

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Speaker 1: a perfect fit. They've got all the structure and by

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Speaker 1: the way certain people, Shack was often distracted. Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 1: clearly needs structure. That's where I've said Aaron and Katie

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Speaker 1: are similar. They're very good when structures already present, because

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Speaker 1: what Katie doesn't want to do is end up being

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Speaker 1: if this goes sideways A yeah, butt guy. Yeah it

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Speaker 1: was great, but he didn't win big without Steph. Yeah

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Speaker 1: he had to bounce around. He had eight different head coaches.

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Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, he was great, but when you really

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Speaker 1: compare him to like Lebron and Steph, you know what

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Speaker 1: is he kind of a wander. I think Kevin Durant's game,

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Speaker 1: his talent. He was the number one mid range shooter

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Speaker 1: in the league last year. Only two people in the

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Speaker 1: NBA also average twenty five a game and then hit

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Speaker 1: forty percent on threes. Your kitchen, Kevin Durant, He's still

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Speaker 1: an elite player. If he remains healthy for the next

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Speaker 1: two years, it will feel like the Houston Rockets stole

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Speaker 1: KD from Phoenix. If he crumples to the ground, cross

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Speaker 1: your fingers. He doesn't, then maybe Phoenix likes the assets

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Speaker 1: they got.

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Speaker 3: Here's Kevin Durant.

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Speaker 5: Yesterday he had a part of the Houston Rockets. I'm

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Speaker 5: looking forward to it crazy, crazy last couple of weeks

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Speaker 5: when I'm glad it's over with. You know when people

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Speaker 5: could just hang your career in the balance like that

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Speaker 5: and just choose what they want to do with your

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Speaker 5: careers and nerve reckingd feeling but being able to kind

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Speaker 5: of dictate what you want to do and then being

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Speaker 5: with a team that values you. And I'm looking forward

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Speaker 5: to it hoving.

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Speaker 3: People are going to hold on to that dictate what

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Speaker 3: you want to do. Did you have a hand in this?

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Speaker 5: Most definitely yeah. I mean, they asked me where I

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Speaker 5: wanted to go some of my destinations. I gave it

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Speaker 5: to him.

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Speaker 3: Here we are, Uh yeah again.

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Speaker 1: Everybody wants to pick a side on trades, winner and loser.

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Speaker 1: If Katie remains healthy, Houston's gonna feel like they won

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Speaker 1: this trade because they only had to give up one

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Speaker 1: first round pick if he has injury issues, and the

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Speaker 1: number ten pick the Son's got in the draft hits.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Green's expensive, but he'll be productive. Dylan Brooks will

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Speaker 1: start for them, a bunch of second round picks they

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Speaker 1: can play around with. Then maybe it feels like Phoenix

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Speaker 1: won the deal. But I do think Kevin Durant's game

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Speaker 1: is too good to be sort of lumped into a

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Speaker 1: yeah butt guy. One of the best NBA offensive players

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Speaker 1: of my lifetime. And I started watching this sport in

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Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one seventy two, so I'm happy for him. Well,

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Speaker 1: you live in the Arizona area, he said something.

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Speaker 3: John.

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Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting. You know, he's just got

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Speaker 1: such an interesting personality. He'll go on Twitter and talk

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Speaker 1: to people. He'll see him on the street, you go

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Speaker 1: to games, he'll talk to people, he said, yesterday, he goes,

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Speaker 1: You know, they didn't want me, so I'm glad to go.

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Speaker 1: How did people in your hometown, Phoenix, how did they

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Speaker 1: view Katie and the whole KD.

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Speaker 3: Beal experiment.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I think the Suns have just been a disaster

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Speaker 6: and people are tuned out. I think the expectations when

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Speaker 6: they traded for him were pretty high. I mean, you

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Speaker 6: get a Kevin Durant the same thing with Brooklyn. You're

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Speaker 6: expecting we're gonna compete for the championship. Last year wasn't

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Speaker 6: even close. Now, not all his fault. The owner's a

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Speaker 6: little crazy. I mean, you know, Draydon for Bradley Beal

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Speaker 6: absolutely backfired. I actually think this situation Houston feels three

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Speaker 6: or four years a little too late. I mean, he's

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Speaker 6: thirty seven, Colin, he's he kind got in the NBA

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Speaker 6: when he was nineteen years old, so he a lot

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Speaker 6: of wear and tear on this body. If he would

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Speaker 6: have got there, like when he moved to Brooklyn, a

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Speaker 6: situation like this, who.

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Speaker 2: Knows, I don't know. It's had a lot of injuries lately.

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Speaker 1: Come yeah, No, he's playing about sixty sixty five games

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Speaker 1: and the good news is they have a lot of

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Speaker 1: length in Houston and a lot of young guys, so

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Speaker 1: he does not have to be you know, it's pretty

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Speaker 1: clear they're going to keep him around for the playoffs. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: they got him. I mean they got to the playoffs

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Speaker 1: without him, and they Jalen Green is not a defined player.

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Speaker 3: He's too expensive.

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Speaker 1: I think it will pay off for sure late, but

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Speaker 1: you cross your on health because with KD you know what,

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Speaker 1: with the Warriors, that is now a thing in his career.

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Speaker 6: Are you confident that he's going to be there for

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Speaker 6: more than a year and a half at this point.

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Speaker 2: I kind of a traveling circus a little bit.

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Speaker 1: I do think I've heard for years NBA players like Houston.

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Speaker 1: They like living there, no state tax, middle of the country.

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Speaker 1: My take is this is where he ends it, and

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Speaker 1: I think it's a pretty good spot because I do

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Speaker 1: think they have a defensive culture. He's not the defender

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Speaker 1: he used to be, but they have a defensive culture

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Speaker 1: and they have the length and quickness Amend Thompson, so

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Speaker 1: they won't need they really need him to grab it

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Speaker 1: and shoot it. They shot fewer three pointers than anybody

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs.

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Speaker 3: They had two games with the Warriors under.

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Speaker 1: Ninety points like he is exactly what they need, and

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Speaker 1: they don't need him to be multiple in roles.

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Speaker 3: Bro catch it, shoot it, score hit threes.

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Speaker 1: That's all we need, and I think that's what he

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Speaker 1: provides totally.

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Speaker 2: Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays

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Speaker 2: and newon Easter non a em Pacific on Fox Sports

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Speaker 2: Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app. Hi, this is Jay.

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Speaker 7: I'm the producer of the Pauli and Tony Fusco Show.

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Speaker 7: Usually in these promos they asked you to listen to

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Speaker 7: the show. I'm here to ask you please don't listen

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Speaker 7: to the show. The hosts are two absolute morons who

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Speaker 7: have the dumbest takes on sports imaginable. Don't listen to

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Speaker 7: the show so it can get Camps.

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Speaker 2: Oh wha, what the hell are you doing in our studio?

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Speaker 2: Get him, PAULI, Ignore that fool.

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Speaker 6: Listen to the Paula and Tony Fusco Show on the

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Speaker 6: iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

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Speaker 2: He's still moving.

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Speaker 1: It's great to be back, John Middlecoff joining me today.

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Speaker 1: Don't forget in the forty minutes from now, where Colin

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Speaker 1: was right where Colin was wrong. Rick Buker, Alexi Lawless

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Speaker 1: stops by. He's all fired up, so listen. I'm like you,

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Speaker 1: I've sat around all day. I thought, okay, you don't

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Speaker 1: get many game sevens. I thought the Indiana Pacers were

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Speaker 1: an amazing story. It's one of the craziest playoff runs.

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Speaker 1: They were underdogs to Milwaukee. They were supposed to get

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Speaker 1: rolled by Cleveland. They weren't gonna beat the Knicks. They

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Speaker 1: even sold game one of the finals in Okac. It's

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Speaker 1: just you don't get stuff like this. And then Tyrese Halliburton,

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Speaker 1: this incredibly likable guy and is kind of crazy dad.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes he was along for the ride and then he

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Speaker 1: gets hurt and you're like, oh, you can't beat Okac

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Speaker 1: with one ball handler and just TJ McConnell.

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Speaker 3: But last night was a real gut punch. It was

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Speaker 3: hard to stomach.

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Speaker 1: And this was the eighth achilles tear this year in

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Speaker 1: the NBA, most ever, and the third in the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: most ever. The NBA is on notice shorten the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: They started two weeks before the draft the NFL draft.

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Speaker 1: The NBA is faster, there's more spacing, there's way more movement.

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Speaker 1: Players are just moving more. It's twitchier. When you can

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Speaker 1: see his achilles flop. Oh, it's gutting. An Achilles tear

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Speaker 1: used to be what old guys did at fifty eight

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Speaker 1: playing handball. It was an old guy injury. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: for twenty year olds. That tells you everything. And baseball,

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Speaker 1: for the record, has made multiple tweaks in the.

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Speaker 3: Last three years.

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Speaker 1: The sport has greatly benefited the NFL tweaks in season.

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Speaker 1: We love the NFL. The NBA has never been a

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Speaker 1: stubborn league. Move off seven game playoff series until you

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Speaker 1: get to the finals.

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Speaker 3: MJ.

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Speaker 1: The most popular to the league ever was five games

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Speaker 1: in the first round. Maybe you can do conference finals

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Speaker 1: at seven. But the NBA just got a seventy six

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Speaker 1: billion dollar TV deal. The billionaires are gonna be okay

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Speaker 1: without another home game. Everybody's gonna eat. Adam's gonna eat

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Speaker 1: the owners are gonna eat, the players, the coaches. Seven

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Speaker 1: to eight figures everywhere these early round seven games. When

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Speaker 1: you look at these injuries, the achilles injury, it's a

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Speaker 1: wear and tear injury. You're just fatigued, you're tired, you're

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Speaker 1: pushing it. Like they always say, you know, you tear

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Speaker 1: the achilles on the last ski run of the day,

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Speaker 1: or as you get older, you're an old guy and

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Speaker 1: you're pushing it. That's where this usually happens. So next year,

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Speaker 1: think about this. Two of the most captivating players that

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Speaker 1: we argue about, Jason Tatum of the Celtics won't play

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Speaker 1: next year, and now Tyree's Haliburton because the lateness of

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Speaker 1: this injury, probably will not play next year. You're gonna

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Speaker 1: tell me the Eastern Conference I don't get Tatum and

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Speaker 1: I don't get Haliburton.

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Speaker 3: You think that's good for the league?

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Speaker 1: I was thinking watching this injury, I'm thinking, you know

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Speaker 1: who really benefited in the East this year, Orlando and

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Speaker 1: the Knicks by getting knocked out earlier, they'll have a

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Speaker 1: healthy roster.

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Speaker 3: So I just look at this.

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Speaker 1: College basketball in March gets bigger ratings than the NBA

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Speaker 1: often gets in the playoffs. Why urgency make the games matter.

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Speaker 1: I'm not asking for one and done, But when you're

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Speaker 1: seeing eight injuries in three tears over a course of

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Speaker 1: a season, these are the worlds, are the world's best athletes.

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Speaker 1: They're in incredible shape. Very few of these guys play

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Speaker 1: themselves into shape. They come in finely tuned, and the

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Speaker 1: NBA should not be a war of attrition once again,

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Speaker 1: think about this, the NBA Playoffs. The playing tournament started

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Speaker 1: April fifteenth. Okay, fourth of July is around the corner.

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Speaker 1: These things are too long. It doesn't take ten weeks

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Speaker 1: to realize. Yeah, that team that dominated the regular season

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Speaker 1: also ended up winning the NBA Championship. If a team

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Speaker 1: can win in five, they're good enough. If you're losing

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Speaker 1: in five, you're not good enough. And so I think

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Speaker 1: Rick Carlisle highly emotional after. I think on a more

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Speaker 1: personal level, but on a level for all of us,

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Speaker 1: you kind of felt like, oh, you felt a little

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Speaker 1: cheated yesterday. The Ola Garks and the billionaires have a

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Speaker 1: seventy six billion dollar or contract coming. They can give

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Speaker 1: a couple of games back. Here's Rick Carlisle.

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Speaker 8: After what happened with tyresee is uh, it's just all

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Speaker 8: of our hearts dropped, but he will be back. He

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Speaker 8: authored one of the great individual playoff runs in the

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Speaker 8: history of the NBA, with dramatic play after dramatic play.

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Speaker 8: It was just something that no one's ever seen.

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Speaker 1: Uh, and and nobody wants to see again. How it

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Speaker 1: ended again. The NBA and most of these leagues. You know,

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Speaker 1: we always thought baseball was the stuffy sport, unwilling to change.

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Speaker 1: And Rob Manfred has stepped up and made change after change,

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Speaker 1: and they've all worked. Baseball is much easier to watch

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Speaker 1: two hour, thirty five minute games. The game flies by.

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Speaker 1: It's really made baseball. It's given it a bit of

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Speaker 1: a renaissance. And I say that as a guy that

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Speaker 1: for about fifteen years stopped talking baseball. It was too slow.

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Speaker 1: None of the kids in my house wanted to watch baseball.

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Speaker 3: It was soccer.

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Speaker 1: That's not the case anymore. The games are faster. The

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Speaker 1: NBA needs to act quickly succinctly shave playoff games. We

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Speaker 1: don't need ten weeks. Here's John Middlekoff with the news.

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Speaker 2: No, no turn on the news. This is the Herdline News.

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Speaker 6: Well, Colin, Caleb Williams, and Ben Johnson head into their

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Speaker 6: first season together, with obviously Ben coming over from the

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Speaker 6: Lions this offseason. Speaking at the Fanatics Fest yesterday, Caleb

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Speaker 6: was up there with Peyton and Eli. He discussed how

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Speaker 6: that his relationship with his new head coach has grown

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Speaker 6: this offseason.

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Speaker 2: It's been awesome. Ben Johnson.

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Speaker 3: He uses some choice words every day towards me.

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Speaker 2: He's tough.

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Speaker 8: I loove him, He's awesome. It's been great Bay around

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Speaker 8: and we hang out in his office and just you know,

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Speaker 8: we have watched some times things like that, and just

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Speaker 8: you know, O this bonding relationship to be able to

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Speaker 8: you know, last a while.

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Speaker 1: I think it's interesting because I and you and I

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Speaker 1: have talked about this privately and on our podcast, is

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Speaker 1: that offensive coaches in this league are better with old lines.

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Speaker 1: If you look at the highest rated O lines the

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Speaker 1: last ten, seven eight years, most are offensive coaches.

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Speaker 3: If you look at some of the worst.

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Speaker 1: Old lines, it's often New York Giants excluded defensive coaches McVeigh,

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Speaker 1: Andy Reid. They can fix offensive lines quickly. The Steelers

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Speaker 1: have been trying to rework theirs for years. The first

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Speaker 1: thing Ben Johnson did is fix the interior O line.

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Speaker 1: And I thought, regardless of what happens this year, and

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Speaker 1: regardless of Caleb Williams, is good enough. Ben came from

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Speaker 1: Detroit and went Joe Tooney Drew Dolman, the Rams guard.

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Speaker 1: He's like, I got to protect this guy's feet. And

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Speaker 1: so you know, as somebody you are a scout in

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Speaker 1: this league. I don't know if Caleb Willi will be

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Speaker 1: a star, but that that initial move in free agency

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Speaker 1: by Ben Johnson told me he's got because that's what

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Speaker 1: McVeigh did in LA with Goff left tackle, fix the

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Speaker 1: interior a line. So I actually have a lot of

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Speaker 1: confidence in a team that I shouldn't.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean this was a head coach.

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Speaker 6: How often do we see now guys that get at

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Speaker 6: these opportunities not jump immediately.

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Speaker 2: We just saw Liam Cohen. Ben Johnson was kind of

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Speaker 2: the opposite of that.

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Speaker 6: He waited he I mean, remember he kind of hung

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Speaker 6: up the phone as Washington was flying to him. Turns

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Speaker 6: out that was a pretty good job. I think the

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Speaker 6: key for a lot of these young offensive coaches. Remember

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Speaker 6: when McVeigh got to the Rams, Kyle got to the Niners,

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Speaker 6: run the ball, even Lafleur when he got to the Packers,

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Speaker 6: they started Aaron, You're not just going to carry us

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Speaker 6: on your back. Kayleb's been used to that. That's how

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Speaker 6: he played with USC. It's not going to work in

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Speaker 6: the NFL that way. So I think they got to

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Speaker 6: get him under control. The roster's pretty good. The problem though,

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Speaker 6: Colin Division. The schedule is not easy. Side good luck

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Speaker 6: to these two.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we I said this last year.

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Speaker 1: Minnesota ended up having a great year, but I said

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Speaker 1: if Minnesota finished in fourth place, it would be the

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Speaker 1: most dynamic fourth place team you'll ever see. I kind

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Speaker 1: of feel like Chicago doesn't have Detroit roster.

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Speaker 3: They don't.

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Speaker 1: They don't have the continuity and the momentum of green Bay.

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Speaker 1: And do they have the coach of Minnesota.

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Speaker 3: So I don't know.

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Speaker 1: You know, I feel like if I said to you

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Speaker 1: today ten and seven, would you take that in Yes,

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Speaker 1: you would take it.

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Speaker 6: If you're a Bears fan or Ben Johnson or kaylet can.

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Speaker 2: This is the hard part about this job. No Dallas

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Speaker 2: winnderstand why. It's a tough job. But they have won

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Speaker 2: a lot since winning the Super Bowl. They just haven't

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Speaker 2: won that often in the playoffs, but they've been in

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Speaker 2: the playffs life.

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Speaker 6: This Bear's team, beside the Erlacker run now for about

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Speaker 6: fifteen has been not very good. And obviously, you know

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Speaker 6: Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota has had a lot of good teams

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Speaker 6: over that time. Now, Detroit, I would say Detroit healthy

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Speaker 6: second best roster in the NFC behind Philadelphia. So it's

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Speaker 6: just it's diffic and the pressure. I mean, you're there

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Speaker 6: a lot now that that market. It's it's a football town.

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Speaker 6: The expectations and the results don't exactly match up.

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Speaker 2: So's tough job for these too.

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Speaker 1: No listen, since May, there's two topics in Chicago now,

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Speaker 1: the Cubs and the Bears. Like that is the topic.

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Speaker 1: Everybody is interested. So but you know those Caleb said

432
00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:22,720
Speaker 1: this when he went there. Chicago cares about sports. It's

433
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,359
Speaker 1: fun to be in those markets.

434
00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:28,159
Speaker 2: For sure. This is a cool story. Sean McVeigh and

435
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:28,720
Speaker 2: the Rams.

436
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,639
Speaker 6: They made an unusual decision this offseason, holding their mandatory

437
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,479
Speaker 6: mini camp in Maui. Players were encouraged to bring their

438
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,640
Speaker 6: families with them, and McVeigh talked about what it meant

439
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 6: for the team's bun.

440
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,720
Speaker 9: It's about connection and being able to get some time.

441
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:46,520
Speaker 9: It's cool to be able to you know, really, for me,

442
00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:48,800
Speaker 9: meet a lot of these guys families that maybe I

443
00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 9: haven't met quite yet, or see their wives or girlfriends

444
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:52,520
Speaker 9: or their.

445
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,919
Speaker 2: Kids, and so that's been a really cool thing so far.

446
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:57,719
Speaker 9: This is about being able to get some good quality

447
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,359
Speaker 9: time with each other and then being able to use

448
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 9: the platform that we're blessed with to be able to

449
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 9: give back to a community that went through some similar

450
00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:07,680
Speaker 9: things that we can all understand and kind of empathize with.

451
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,920
Speaker 1: It's really remarkable. This feels a little different than a

452
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,159
Speaker 1: previous coach we dealt with.

453
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,200
Speaker 6: Do you think that Lombardy, Parcels or Belichick would have

454
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,240
Speaker 6: taken this team to Honolulu and play a little golf?

455
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:21,200
Speaker 2: I don't.

456
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,280
Speaker 6: I don't know this to me, screams though twenty twenty five,

457
00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 6: it's got it all. NFL a business deal with nowI tourism.

458
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 6: You know, very player family, senters McVeigh. Young kind of

459
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:34,480
Speaker 6: has a collegiate feel to him. I mean I saw

460
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,639
Speaker 6: pictures of you know, Whitworth's along for the trip, DeVante Adams,

461
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:38,480
Speaker 6: They're playing golf.

462
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 2: Everyone's wife went.

463
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 1: You know.

464
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,600
Speaker 6: The NFL is a little different than you know, definitely

465
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,320
Speaker 6: the one I grew up in the nineties and even

466
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:49,439
Speaker 6: the two thousands. It's very player centric. It's not the NBA,

467
00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:53,119
Speaker 6: but it's it's a different version of you know, management.

468
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:55,760
Speaker 6: They control everything you got to give it and they

469
00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,400
Speaker 6: have a young team Colin and the expectations are pretty high.

470
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,639
Speaker 2: So a lot of good vibes right now. Mcde well.

471
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:02,520
Speaker 1: And I also think you've asked the players to play

472
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,880
Speaker 1: another game. You're probably going to ask them to play

473
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,160
Speaker 1: an eighteenth game, and you're now asking teams to regularly

474
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 1: play overseas, and the league's never had more revenue. So

475
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,159
Speaker 1: to me, you know, we've all had bosses. When the

476
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 1: bosses are making a lot of money, I'm always okay

477
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,639
Speaker 1: with it. Spread the wealth a little bit, and so

478
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,479
Speaker 1: I think in the you know, John, the other thing

479
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,440
Speaker 1: with all the new cbas there's just less hitting it practice,

480
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 1: and I think there were certain cliches.

481
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 3: We've always grown up with that.

482
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 1: But the more and more you read about studies, they're like,

483
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,480
Speaker 1: if kids don't start hitting till they're thirteen or fourteen

484
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:40,680
Speaker 1: for football, they're.

485
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:41,440
Speaker 3: Going to be just fine.

486
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,080
Speaker 1: And you don't need you don't need a ton of

487
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,320
Speaker 1: hitting in these ota in mini camp.

488
00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:48,200
Speaker 2: Do you remember when the CBA changed, I think in

489
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:49,040
Speaker 2: twenty eleven.

490
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,879
Speaker 6: Yeah, Harbaugh and Pete Carroll got in a little trouble

491
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:53,679
Speaker 6: in the offseason because they were being a little too

492
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:54,800
Speaker 6: aggressive on defense.

493
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:55,960
Speaker 2: Those days are done.

494
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,399
Speaker 6: The off season is really about hanging out, being with

495
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,320
Speaker 6: your crew, go into hockey and basketball games and you know,

496
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 6: getting to know your new team because we.

497
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:06,119
Speaker 2: Have so much turnover now in the NFL.

498
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:12,120
Speaker 6: YEP, agree, Okay, this one's interesting because your guy Sam

499
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,600
Speaker 6: Darnold is now in Seattle after an incredible season with

500
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 6: the Minnesota Vikings.

501
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:18,080
Speaker 2: It did not end very well.

502
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:20,399
Speaker 6: Remember the Vikings went fourteen to two and looking to

503
00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 6: win the division, but ended up losing their final game

504
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,680
Speaker 6: and they got completely outplayed by the Rams in that

505
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:26,920
Speaker 6: wildcard game in Arizona.

506
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,240
Speaker 2: Donald has been open about how.

507
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,879
Speaker 6: He played too close, how he played to close out

508
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,680
Speaker 6: the season, saying, we laid an egg as an offense.

509
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,359
Speaker 1: You know, here's the thing though, let me defend them.

510
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,800
Speaker 1: So they lost in Detroit, right, that was one of

511
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:46,280
Speaker 1: the games, biggest game in Detroit probably at okay ye,

512
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 1: that was my argument, John I said, guys, this is

513
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:51,639
Speaker 1: the biggest game in Detroit. You were not winning that game. Now,

514
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:53,640
Speaker 1: it was uglier than you want. You were not winning

515
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,840
Speaker 1: that game. It's also a division rival. Those are hard games,

516
00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: and the Rams game again because it's back to back,

517
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,760
Speaker 1: is easy to pick on. But by the end of

518
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 1: last year, Jared Verse was becoming a top five defensive

519
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,840
Speaker 1: player in the league. That Ram defense, because of its youth,

520
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,600
Speaker 1: from week three to week fifteen was a different defense.

521
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:20,120
Speaker 1: This team had Philadelphia beat in Philadelphia. So Darnold goes

522
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: to Detroit and he didn't play well. And then that

523
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:27,440
Speaker 1: Rams team in the snow is the only team in

524
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:30,119
Speaker 1: the playoffs where you felt, oh, Philadelphia is in trouble.

525
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,560
Speaker 1: We have to give some credit to the Lions and

526
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,119
Speaker 1: the Rams. They are Those were tough spots for that

527
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:38,560
Speaker 1: offensive line in Minnesota.

528
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,680
Speaker 6: And I think if Kevin O'Connell could get a redo,

529
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 6: you know, I think there are two different versions. You

530
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 6: and I talk a lot about this about the young crew,

531
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 6: the Laflores, obviously, Kyle. They like to run the ball

532
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 6: Arthur Smith up up in Pittsburgh, Kevin, and rightfully so,

533
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,800
Speaker 6: because it worked most of the year, throw that ball, baby,

534
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,920
Speaker 6: well when it's not working well. Who's the offensive coordinator

535
00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:58,160
Speaker 6: in Seattle Kubiak?

536
00:27:58,400 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 2: Where's Kubak come from?

537
00:27:59,640 --> 00:27:59,920
Speaker 6: Shannon?

538
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,120
Speaker 2: He's basically a Shanahan family member.

539
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,320
Speaker 6: They're gonna try to run the ball slow down the

540
00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:05,959
Speaker 6: game because when you get in positions when you're down

541
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,240
Speaker 6: a couple scores. How many quarterbacks Josh Allen Patch Mahomes,

542
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:11,719
Speaker 6: Matt Stafford. Still there's only a couple guys who can

543
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:13,120
Speaker 6: really carry you in that environment.

544
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:15,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree. I think Johnolan's gonna play well.

545
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 6: I think their team pretty good on paper, you know,

546
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 6: I mean, they got a lot of good young talent.

547
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:22,760
Speaker 6: People will act like Seattle because they haven't been the

548
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,000
Speaker 6: playoffs last couple of years. They're not winning four or

549
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 6: five games. They won ten games last year. Colum we

550
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,120
Speaker 6: just said the Bears would sign up for ten and seven.

551
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,440
Speaker 6: Seattle went ten and seven. So it shows you the

552
00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,000
Speaker 6: NFC was a little top heavy, but it was actually

553
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 6: pretty deep last year.

554
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:35,960
Speaker 2: They don't have the.

555
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,560
Speaker 6: Quarterbacks, but they have a lot of good teams, a

556
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,440
Speaker 6: lot of good coaches. I'm pretty high on Seattle coming

557
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:41,040
Speaker 6: into this season.

558
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 1: Well, if JJ McCarthy hits, so you have a Caleb,

559
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 1: you have a Jaden, you have a JJ McCarthy Pennix.

560
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 1: The reason the AFC separated from the NFC they hit

561
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,160
Speaker 1: on quarterbacks. Yeah, like three years in a row they

562
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 1: hit on all their quarterbacks. If this quarterback class is

563
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,040
Speaker 1: as good as that, like Herbert Joe Burrow to a one,

564
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 1: We're gonna look up at the end of this year go.

565
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 1: The gap between the AFC and the NFC, especially with

566
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,360
Speaker 1: the rebirth of Darnald and Baker, it's pretty close.

567
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 6: A lot of good coaches in the NFC, a lot

568
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,760
Speaker 6: of young offensive hot shots. I think Mike McDonald if

569
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 6: he was an offensive guy, we would talk about him

570
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 6: like McVeigh or Kyle. So Dan Campbell's turned into, you know,

571
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,320
Speaker 6: the version of the Hardball Brother. He's like the third

572
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,960
Speaker 6: Harrorball Brother. So really really good coaching. I think in

573
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 6: the NFC they might not have the quarterback star power,

574
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,240
Speaker 6: but the high end coaching is pretty impressive.

575
00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:31,600
Speaker 3: John Middlecoff with the news.

576
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 6: Well, that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The

577
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 6: Herd Line News.

578
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 2: Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays

579
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,080
Speaker 2: and noon Easter nine am Pacific.

580
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:48,240
Speaker 6: Bryson, Keepka, Rom, Phil and DJ, some of the biggest

581
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 6: names in golf are headed for the Texas Shootout and

582
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 6: Live Golf Dallas. Catch coverage of around one Friday at

583
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,480
Speaker 6: two pm Eastern and around two Saturday at three point.

584
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:02,080
Speaker 1: Thirty all one f By the way, Chicago's getting a tournament.

585
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:03,920
Speaker 1: People are already talking about it up there, so they

586
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:08,000
Speaker 1: got big stars, so you know, I. As I started

587
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:09,520
Speaker 1: the show today, I was thinking, I don't want to

588
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,200
Speaker 1: be mister negative oka see, because I'm really impressed with

589
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,640
Speaker 1: Sam Presty. The fans there, it's their first title since

590
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,239
Speaker 1: they've moved. They thought they were going to get one

591
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:21,000
Speaker 1: with k D and Harden and Russell Westbrook and they

592
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 1: didn't and it's heartbreaking. So I was happy for him

593
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:25,880
Speaker 1: last night, but I just thought, once Halliburton got hurt,

594
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,080
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, this is a really forgettable final. This

595
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,120
Speaker 1: is the worst and it's not their fault. They deserve it.

596
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:33,720
Speaker 1: But I was saying, is we're we have entered a

597
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:38,080
Speaker 1: new NBA. This is the seventh different champion in seven years,

598
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,600
Speaker 1: and a lot of it's because it's Adam Silver's NBA.

599
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,120
Speaker 1: So David Stern took the league over from Larry O'Brien

600
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,080
Speaker 1: and they they needed big markets to flourish. The league

601
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,360
Speaker 1: wasn't doing well financially. The finals were on tape delay.

602
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 1: I mean seriously, playoff series run a tape delay. The

603
00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,040
Speaker 1: league was a mess, and so David Stern leaned into

604
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,400
Speaker 1: stars and big markets and had no oh problem with dynasties.

605
00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,760
Speaker 1: But Adam Silver inherited the league where the ratings were

606
00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:07,640
Speaker 1: down post Jordan, but the league was making a lot

607
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,600
Speaker 1: of money. It was culturally relevant, and there were a

608
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 1: bunch of dynasty after dynasty after dynasty, and a lot

609
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 1: of the market owners were complaining that it's very pro

610
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:22,680
Speaker 1: Laker Pro, Celtic Pro, Miami Pro, big market. So Adam Silver,

611
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 1: it takes a commissioner five or six years to create

612
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,280
Speaker 1: their own league, and I think this is the league

613
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 1: he wants. I'm not sure it's going to be popular,

614
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,160
Speaker 1: but it's a league that's collaborative. You can't stack stars,

615
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,800
Speaker 1: and we're seeing it in real time the last seven years.

616
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:42,640
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City excellent defensively, but basically one elite score and

617
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: he didn't even shoot particularly well, especially from three, and

618
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,720
Speaker 1: they still won. So I said, I took the last

619
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:54,760
Speaker 1: seven champions. Let's rank him in order of how where

620
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:57,920
Speaker 1: they rank in this seven year stretch. I think of

621
00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,440
Speaker 1: the seven champions, I would put the as number seven.

622
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:06,240
Speaker 1: It was very Kawhi Leonard dependent. It was Fred van

623
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: Vliet and Kyle Lowry and Danny Green and Serge Ibaka.

624
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 1: It wasn't a great team. I mean they went six

625
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: plus games in each of the three rounds. They got

626
00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: very fortunate on a bounce against Philadelphia. Again, happy for them,

627
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,280
Speaker 1: a one and done. That is the weakest champion in

628
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:26,680
Speaker 1: the last seven years. I don't mean to beat upon

629
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,040
Speaker 1: the Thunder, but I think they're the sixth rated team. Listen,

630
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 1: they have one offensive player. It's mostly depth and roster construction.

631
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,520
Speaker 1: Their second and third best scorers like Chet Holmgren and

632
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:42,440
Speaker 1: j Dubb disappeared in games and they still won. And also,

633
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:44,880
Speaker 1: are we sure they would have won a Halliburton played

634
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:48,400
Speaker 1: great team defense, but I thought they had the second

635
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 1: best coach in the finals. Their best shooter shot twenty

636
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:55,920
Speaker 1: four percent from three. They're going to be noticeably better

637
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,040
Speaker 1: the next three years than this year. Number five, I'd

638
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 1: played the Milwaukee Bucks again, a team that had to

639
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:08,480
Speaker 1: come back from multiple two deficits to win. Now it

640
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 1: was Chris Middleton in his prime, Drew Holiday in his prime,

641
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,600
Speaker 1: a Yannis emerging as a superstar a previous year or two.

642
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,080
Speaker 1: So again they felt like defensively the best team in

643
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,719
Speaker 1: the league, but they fell behind in multiple playoff series

644
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 1: and were in trouble and had to go multiple games.

645
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: I would put them at number five, number four of

646
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,200
Speaker 1: the Warriors. It was the end of the run, end

647
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,480
Speaker 1: of the dynasty. Now they got a really good final

648
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,560
Speaker 1: from Andrew Wiggins. Jordan Poole was a good role player,

649
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:43,120
Speaker 1: but Steph Clay and Draymond passed their prime. It was

650
00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:45,520
Speaker 1: the last legs of a dynasty. I thought they were done.

651
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,160
Speaker 1: Remember when they flew cross country back to Boston. I

652
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:49,920
Speaker 1: think they trailed in the series like two to one.

653
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 1: I thought they were done. I thought they were toast,

654
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,120
Speaker 1: and then they went to Boston and Tatum and Brown

655
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,440
Speaker 1: they just weren't quite ready yet to seize it. I

656
00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,560
Speaker 1: would put the Warriors of the last seven champions at

657
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 1: number four. I would put the Nuggets at number three.

658
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,280
Speaker 1: They're a little like OKC. You got one great star.

659
00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:10,000
Speaker 1: The difference is Jokich is the best player in the world.

660
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,040
Speaker 1: They also were dominant in the conference finals and the finals.

661
00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:17,560
Speaker 3: They lost only one game. I got fooled by this team.

662
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 1: I thought they had a long run, but then they

663
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,800
Speaker 1: started losing really valuable pieces like Brown and KCP. I

664
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:27,600
Speaker 1: put Denver number three. The best overall roster of the

665
00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:32,320
Speaker 1: last seven is Boston. The question is what was Tatum

666
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:37,200
Speaker 1: Brown won the Conference MVP and the finals MVP dominant

667
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:41,319
Speaker 1: season sixty four and eighteen, did not lose more than

668
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,960
Speaker 1: one game in any series, and I think one through

669
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:47,600
Speaker 1: ten in the last seven years, this is actually the

670
00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:50,360
Speaker 1: best roster. You could say all you want about OKC,

671
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:53,720
Speaker 1: but Jalen Brown is better than any number two player

672
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:57,880
Speaker 1: for Oklahoma City. And Derek White, I mean everybody. He

673
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 1: was our number four or five starter. You knew you

674
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,080
Speaker 1: were get great defense in threes from Derek White in

675
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,279
Speaker 1: every game. So this is the best collection of talent

676
00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:06,480
Speaker 1: in the last seven years. But I think the best

677
00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,120
Speaker 1: team was the Lakers AD in his prime, Lebron playing

678
00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,200
Speaker 1: like he was in his prime, Alex Caruso. You just

679
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,080
Speaker 1: didn't know who Alex Caruso was yet. He was a

680
00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 1: great defensive player KCP who's always been a big shot.

681
00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:20,360
Speaker 3: Maker in the playoffs.

682
00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,320
Speaker 1: They had the best record in the West before the

683
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:25,400
Speaker 1: league shut down with COVID, so they don't get a

684
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:29,080
Speaker 1: lot of credit. But as the other old veteran teams crumpled,

685
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:36,879
Speaker 1: they had Lebron ad and really really, really good role players. Again,

686
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,000
Speaker 1: you just didn't know. I didn't know much about Alex Caruso.

687
00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:42,920
Speaker 1: We find out now he's a pretty solid player. So

688
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 1: that's where I would rank the teams. Again, if Jason

689
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:51,719
Speaker 1: Tatum was a more decisive big game star, I'd have

690
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:54,960
Speaker 1: no problem putting the Celtics above the Lakers because I

691
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:58,000
Speaker 1: thought one through nine the roster is better. I mean,

692
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:01,640
Speaker 1: I mean, when you can go you know, the twenty

693
00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:04,480
Speaker 1: twenty four Celtics. Just look at how good Derek White

694
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:06,680
Speaker 1: is at an NBA player. He was off an option

695
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:10,600
Speaker 1: number four. But I don't think even that the Lakers

696
00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:13,600
Speaker 1: are an all time great Laker team. I would say

697
00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:15,759
Speaker 1: the Showtime Lakers are much better. The Shaq and Kobe

698
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 1: Lakers are better. The Kobe Gasol Lakers, to me, are

699
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,759
Speaker 1: better than this Lakers championship team in the Bubble.

700
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:22,240
Speaker 2: I would agree.

701
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,040
Speaker 6: And the Warriors team, remember Jordan Poole played a pretty

702
00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,600
Speaker 6: big role Steph Miss some time. Remember Steph Miss some games.

703
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,360
Speaker 6: I think Jordan Poole was starting. So yeah, I mean

704
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,399
Speaker 6: it's we have some great individual players over the last

705
00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 6: seven years, but the teams. But this is kind of

706
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:38,640
Speaker 6: the nature of Adam Silver, right. All these players moved,

707
00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:40,640
Speaker 6: not stop. This is in the nineties where guys are

708
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 6: on the same team. Reggie Miller played for the Pacers

709
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:45,800
Speaker 6: for what eighteen years? Those days are done? Yeah, yeah, okay.

710
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:50,280
Speaker 1: So I started reading on the flight to LA yesterday afternoon,

711
00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,640
Speaker 1: I started reading Caitlin Clark book by Christine Brennan, and

712
00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 1: I just wanted to know, like the rest of you,

713
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,600
Speaker 1: ninety percent of us, me and you. We started watching

714
00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,400
Speaker 1: her her junior year, her last couple of years at Iowa,

715
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:06,440
Speaker 1: right we oh man, she shoots three. She looks like

716
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:10,080
Speaker 1: Steph Curry. But when you read this book, Christine Brennan

717
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,600
Speaker 1: really holds the WA accountable, and she says the league

718
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:17,440
Speaker 1: was simply not prepared for and didn't do their homework.

719
00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 1: So the NBA has I think through the years in

720
00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,279
Speaker 1: the NFL, they kind of know when a star is

721
00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:26,640
Speaker 1: coming and they often soften up the schedule. The WNBA

722
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:29,200
Speaker 1: did not do that for Connecticut, having them play New

723
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,400
Speaker 1: York and Connecticut early. But this book talks about a

724
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:38,480
Speaker 1: specific moment Caitlin's sophomore year. Sophomore, she goes on the

725
00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 1: road to face Michigan, a twenty and two team. She

726
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:47,279
Speaker 1: dropped forty six points, ten assists, played every minute. It

727
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:51,359
Speaker 1: was her third forty point game of her sophomore year,

728
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:55,840
Speaker 1: and in the book. It details how people are that

729
00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:01,759
Speaker 1: were at the game realized, oh, she's doing things we

730
00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:06,480
Speaker 1: have never seen a woman's basketball player do forty six points,

731
00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:10,440
Speaker 1: tenn assists played every minute. There's also stories and I

732
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,560
Speaker 1: don't expect the NWNBA to have information when she was

733
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:15,520
Speaker 1: in seventh and eighth grade, but one of the fascinating

734
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:17,520
Speaker 1: stories as she was down when she was like in

735
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 1: the seventh or eighth grade, she was down eleven points

736
00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:22,920
Speaker 1: with a minute seven left. Caitlin Clark won on a

737
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:25,360
Speaker 1: thirteen nothing run to win in like the seventh or

738
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,480
Speaker 1: eighth grade. But one of the criticisms I've had with

739
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,560
Speaker 1: the WNBA is it is your job to know and

740
00:38:32,719 --> 00:38:37,440
Speaker 1: identify stars before they're at your doorstep. You gotta see

741
00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 1: him coming up the driveway. And when you read this book,

742
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:43,560
Speaker 1: I think Christine really holds them accountable and the WNBA

743
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:44,279
Speaker 1: is pushed back.

744
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:46,080
Speaker 3: But her shooting.

745
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:49,160
Speaker 1: Distance multiple forty point game, you don't get a lot

746
00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:52,800
Speaker 1: of forty point games, forty five point games from college

747
00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:56,759
Speaker 1: men's basketball players, like you just don't see that. So

748
00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:59,799
Speaker 1: she's dropping forty six as a sophomore. People that are

749
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:03,839
Speaker 1: at the game are talking about her passings. Actually better

750
00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:07,640
Speaker 1: than her shooting. She's a revolutionary player. So I think

751
00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:11,520
Speaker 1: the book really dies sects some of the lack of

752
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:16,160
Speaker 1: preparation or awareness and you know you can just like Also,

753
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:20,400
Speaker 1: Christine Brennan holds women's basketball accountable for not putting her

754
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 1: on the Olympic team where they didn't have a lot

755
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:26,480
Speaker 1: of great perimeter shooters and she was emerging as a

756
00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:31,240
Speaker 1: noteworthy player when they were making those tryouts. So Christine

757
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,320
Speaker 1: Brennan last week on the Herd on Caitlyn's impact to

758
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:35,120
Speaker 1: the WNBA.

759
00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:40,640
Speaker 10: This athlete, Caitlyn Clark is so important to the financial

760
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:42,920
Speaker 10: future of the WNBA at the time. By the way,

761
00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 10: as you know that the CBA, the Collective Barnaining Agreement

762
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:48,960
Speaker 10: is open and will be being negotiated, all of these

763
00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:51,839
Speaker 10: things that we would see arenas having to be games

764
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:54,399
Speaker 10: being moved to bigger arenas, and that we'd be talking

765
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:57,480
Speaker 10: about a female athlete. Never in my lifetime did I

766
00:39:57,600 --> 00:39:59,680
Speaker 10: think I would see that. And I think that's what

767
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:04,200
Speaker 10: makes this so remarkable and so different from another phenom

768
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:05,320
Speaker 10: coming into a sport.

769
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,440
Speaker 1: The book is called on her Game. It really breaks

770
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,680
Speaker 1: down how all the signs were there not as a

771
00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:18,680
Speaker 1: junior not as a senior. They were in the Big ten.

772
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:24,920
Speaker 1: On display late sophomore season. She was doing things, making

773
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:29,000
Speaker 1: passes and taking shots from areas women did not shoot from,

774
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:31,399
Speaker 1: and the people that were in attendance at these games,

775
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,120
Speaker 1: especially the one in an arbor, were awe struck by

776
00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,400
Speaker 1: what they saw, and word was traveling really fast. John,

777
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,239
Speaker 1: we're going to our number two. Colin right, Colin wrong.

778
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:41,839
Speaker 1: Rick Bucker stops byes the hurt