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Speaker 1: The volume. This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What

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Speaker 1: is up Straight Fire, fam, It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight

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Speaker 1: Fire For Tuesday, April eleven, the playoffs begin. I guess

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Speaker 1: technically they do tonight with the play in. We got

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Speaker 1: two good ones. Actually, this is the night to stay

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Speaker 1: in and watch basketball. The games, the other set of

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Speaker 1: playing games are not great. Tonight we get the Heat

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Speaker 1: and we get the Hawks, the rematch from last year.

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Speaker 1: Remember the Heat shutdown Trey Young so badly. And then

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Speaker 1: we get the Lakers and the Timberwolves, who will be

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Speaker 1: without in a stunning development, Rudy Gobert. They have decided

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Speaker 1: to suspend him for this game for punching Kylanders, and

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Speaker 1: we went in depth on it yesterday day. I have

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Speaker 1: a conspiracy theory about the suspension I'll offer in a

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Speaker 1: little bit, but I think you know, when we start

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Speaker 1: to look at the playoff landscape, will obviously do best

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Speaker 1: bet at the end of the podcast. I did bet

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Speaker 1: on both the games tonight, and for all the new

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Speaker 1: listeners out there, yes, we do best bets as often

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Speaker 1: as possible during the NBA playoffs. I think we were

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Speaker 1: betting almost every night last year and I did it

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Speaker 1: for FS one's NBA gambling. Literally I had to have

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Speaker 1: a bet or two every single night of the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: Now it's tough to have consistency, but again, there are

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Speaker 1: many ways to attack it between the line the total

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Speaker 1: player props. Player props are where you can really eat, like,

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Speaker 1: for instance, tonight, Anthony Davis. He could do very, very

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Speaker 1: well with no Rudy Gobert. But I do want to start.

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Speaker 1: I mentioned this on The Herd and producer or sorry,

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Speaker 1: super producer Rob g was like, Wow, that's a spicy take.

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Speaker 1: I didn't think it was at spicy. It's regarding the

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Speaker 1: first round series between the Suns and the paper Clips.

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Speaker 1: Now longtime listener to this podcast, No, I am not

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Speaker 1: the biggest Clippers fan obviously. I like Paul George back

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Speaker 1: in his Indiana days. I have not been as big

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Speaker 1: of a Paul George fan since I have never really

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Speaker 1: believed the hype when it comes to Kawhi Leonard. Awesome player,

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Speaker 1: awesome talent. I never saw the leadership. It's been a

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Speaker 1: flop so far with the Clippers and with Paul George.

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Speaker 1: Now out you look at this series and you're like, zeez,

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Speaker 1: how do the Clippers contend they're starting backcourt ladies and gentlemen.

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Speaker 1: Starting backcourt is Eric Gordon and Russell Westbrook. I mean,

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Speaker 1: if this were twenty seventeen, I would love the Clippers chances.

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Speaker 1: Eric Gordon would have problems scarding me on the perimeter,

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Speaker 1: and you just know that Russell Westbrook is gonna relish

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Speaker 1: the opportunity to go head to head in the playoffs

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Speaker 1: for the first time, I believe, yeah, for the first

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Speaker 1: time since him and Kevin Durant split up back in

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Speaker 1: I think it was twenty sixteen, because we had just

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Speaker 1: moved here from Pennsylvania twenty sixteen. I'll never forget those

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Speaker 1: playoffs were incredible. We had moved everything out of our

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Speaker 1: house except I kept the cable TV on one TV

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Speaker 1: just because of the NBA playoffs, and it was a

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Speaker 1: Warrior's Thunder series. And I'm sitting there unlike boxes watching

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Speaker 1: Clay go off in Game six against OKAC. I'll never

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Speaker 1: forget it. Incredible. And then of course they end up

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Speaker 1: losing in the finals of seventy three win Warriors lose

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Speaker 1: to the Calves, and then a couple of weeks later,

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Speaker 1: I was like, boy, I just got my first TV

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Speaker 1: gig and look at all this fun stuff that's happening.

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Speaker 1: Lebron orchestrates the three one rally and then Kad leaves.

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Speaker 1: And I defended Kad for years when he left Okac

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Speaker 1: for Golden State and made all the sense in the world.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to hear he's joining a total contenter. Listen, A,

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Speaker 1: they didn't win the title, Yes, they had won prior

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Speaker 1: to that, but b who would want to play with

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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook? He gave all he had in Okac, So

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Speaker 1: the split up happened. Everybody took sides. A lot of

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Speaker 1: people bashed a rant ha ha ha. I get it.

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Speaker 1: I'm not saying this because I've had many DM exchanges

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Speaker 1: over the years with KD. He is one that has

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Speaker 1: rabbit ears. If you tag him on the Graham there's

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Speaker 1: a chance. He replies. Now, I haven't done this in

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Speaker 1: a couple of months, but I do believe this KD

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Speaker 1: addition to Phoenix, just like everyone else agrees, it's made

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Speaker 1: them very, very good. Now, I did not think it

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Speaker 1: would be this good. They're eight and o with Katie

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Speaker 1: in the lineup. But the crazier stat I don't know

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Speaker 1: if you guys saw this. In the last twenty seven games,

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant has played Phoenix and Brooklyn. He's twenty five

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Speaker 1: and two, twenty five and two, and you know what

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Speaker 1: this reeks of when Lebron was all by himself going

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Speaker 1: up against the Warriors with Curry and Kad. I was saying,

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget going on TV on the Herd and saying, guys,

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Speaker 1: you can't put Lebron on Kevin Durant because Lebron's got

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Speaker 1: to carry the offensive load and you cannot expect him

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Speaker 1: to then go to the other end and try to

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Speaker 1: lock up kd. That is insane. He can't do both.

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Speaker 1: And of course I think in game one he had

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Speaker 1: like fifty one that was the Jr. Smith brain fard

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Speaker 1: game and then he punches a white board in anyways,

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Speaker 1: it's just too much to ask for Lebron to do

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Speaker 1: that against Katie. Well, I'm saying the same thing here.

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Speaker 1: It is too much to ask for Kawhi to carry

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Speaker 1: the offense of load and then go to the other

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Speaker 1: end and guard Kevin Durant, who's extremely difficult to defend,

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Speaker 1: as everybody knows for an entire series. There's no way

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Speaker 1: he's gonna be able to do that. Now you look

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Speaker 1: at the rest of this Clippers roster. Guys, without Paul George,

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Speaker 1: they're limited. We're talking about the second best player possibly

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Speaker 1: being Norman Powell, who missed a lot of time in March.

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Speaker 1: He came back and looked good in a limited, limited

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Speaker 1: game sample. I don't know, Rob, I firmly believe that

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Speaker 1: Norman Powell is the second best player with Paul George out.

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Speaker 1: I don't even know if Russ Brooks Russell Westbrook's definitely third.

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Speaker 1: I think it's gonna get in his head this whole man.

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Speaker 1: I'm going up against KD. I gotta show him. I

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Speaker 1: know they've patched things up over the years, but I

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Speaker 1: have a feeling at point guard Russ is gonna try

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Speaker 1: to do too much. Well, Paul's out. I gotta control

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Speaker 1: the ball, the tempo, get the shots that ain't gonna work. Guys,

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Speaker 1: this is not a good matchup at all for the Clippers,

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Speaker 1: and I believe they're gonna get swept by the Phoenix Sun.

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Speaker 1: I don't care. You could throw Terrence Man in there.

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Speaker 1: You can give me all the Robert Covington you want.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't appear as if Marcus Morris is gonna play

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Speaker 1: Game one. I don't know it satisf the rest of

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Speaker 1: the series. You gotta plumb ly in there, a zoobach

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Speaker 1: a bones Highland, by the way, getting into it with

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Speaker 1: plumb Le over the weekend, we did even get to that.

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Speaker 1: Bones Highland doesn't want to guard anybody, but he does

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Speaker 1: want to shoot the second he gets in the game.

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Speaker 1: All of the numbers here say this is a dreadful

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Speaker 1: matchup for the paper Clips. Now, they are a good

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Speaker 1: three point shooting team. There is a chance they get

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Speaker 1: super hot and go scorched Earth and win a game.

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Speaker 1: I think they're thirty nine percent on threes since the

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Speaker 1: All Star break. That is either best in the league

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Speaker 1: or second best. But other than that, other than them

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Speaker 1: going absolutely scorched Earth on threes, show me the path

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Speaker 1: to success for the Clippers here, I don't see one. Now. Conversely,

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Speaker 1: you'll say, well, wait a minute, Phoenix is they haven't

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Speaker 1: done much with Kad. Kadi can't be taken time off

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Speaker 1: Chris Paul see what happened to him against the MAVs. Yes,

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Speaker 1: there are problems with the Suns. I'm not saying they're

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Speaker 1: dominant for starters. I don't know who defends Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 1: because you know, Josh Akogi probably too small. I think

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Speaker 1: my guests would be, you start Tory Craig and you

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Speaker 1: put him Tory Craig on Kauai, but then defensively, you

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Speaker 1: stick Tory Craig in the corner and they're gonna double

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant or they're gonna double Devin Booker. All they

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Speaker 1: want a lot of people like ty Lou is a

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Speaker 1: great coach. Listen, I'd like to see it. He's gonna

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Speaker 1: have his work cut out, Rob. I don't think it's

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Speaker 1: that hot of a take to say. I think the

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Speaker 1: Suns will sweep the Clippers. The bigger question is what

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Speaker 1: the hell does Steve Baumber do if his humongous investment

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Speaker 1: for the I think this is your four for the

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Speaker 1: paper clips, Paul George and Kawai. What happens if another

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Speaker 1: season up in smoke And yes, you can play the

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Speaker 1: injury card all you want, but bottom line, they've had

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Speaker 1: four years together and this thing has not worked out.

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Speaker 1: If they get swept, I think you gotta ship Paul

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Speaker 1: George FedEx to anybody that'll take them wow out of

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Speaker 1: the gates on a Tuesday. That's how you're gonna start

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Speaker 1: Tuesday is by saying that the paper Clips are getting

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Speaker 1: swept by the Phoenix Suns. This is your hottest NBA

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Speaker 1: playoff take since you said and were this close to

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Speaker 1: being right, this close that the Kde Steph Clay Draymond

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Speaker 1: Warriors were gonna sweep Lebron, Kyrie and Kevin Love in

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Speaker 1: the finals. You remember that and you missed it by

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Speaker 1: one game because I believe the Cleveland Cavaliers had the

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Speaker 1: greatest three point shooting performance in NBA Finals history. I

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Speaker 1: think they made twenty six in that game. They were

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Speaker 1: Warriors rough three nothing. I was doing a victory lap.

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Speaker 1: I had money on the sweep, and of course it

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Speaker 1: was going to be a huge payday. But you're right

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Speaker 1: the Kevin Love, Kyrie Lebron, I'm pretty sure it was

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Speaker 1: like in the high twenties is what they made for

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Speaker 1: threes that night. But otherwise, do you think the Clippers

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Speaker 1: have any chance here to win the series? No, but

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Speaker 1: I don't think they're gonna get swift. I think that

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Speaker 1: this game, this series is going to go at least

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Speaker 1: six games, and the reason being is that former Laker

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Speaker 1: Russell west Brook I think is going to have one

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Speaker 1: of those turn back the Clock type series with the clips.

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Speaker 1: He's averaged sixteen seven and five on forty nine percent

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Speaker 1: shoot And now you might not say that's the big number,

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Speaker 1: but what he gives them is something that they absolutely

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Speaker 1: did not have, which was a creator. Kawhi Leonard can

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Speaker 1: do it. Not really his bag. Paul George can do

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Speaker 1: it again, not really his forte. Now that Paul George

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Speaker 1: is out of the picture, they have absolutely no one

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Speaker 1: who can create for others at a high rate because

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard, even though he is devastating offensively running point

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Speaker 1: guard point Kawhi is just not really you know, what

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Speaker 1: he's best at. And So for all the slander that

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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook took on this podcast from me and from

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Speaker 1: other people, from you people throughout the basketball world, I've

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Speaker 1: maintained all along that Russell Westbrook is not a bad player.

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Speaker 1: He's not terrible. He's not as bad as the highlights

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Speaker 1: or the low lights if you want to call him

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Speaker 1: would indicate. With the Lakers, the problem was he was

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Speaker 1: an absolutely horrible fit alongside Lebron James and Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: with the Clippers, who can shoot the lights out. As

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Speaker 1: you mentioned a few minutes ago. He has a spread floor,

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Speaker 1: he can attack downhill, and he can do the things

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Speaker 1: that Russell Westbrook does at a high level. And more importantly,

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Speaker 1: he is going to be going head to head, not

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Speaker 1: with Kevin Durando. That's the sexy you know, marquee matchup

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Speaker 1: Westbrook versus kd. It's Westbrook versus Chris Paul. And Chris

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Speaker 1: Paul has looked I'm not gonna stay washed, but he

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Speaker 1: looks like he's been pre soaked. He's pre soaked. He's

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Speaker 1: almost getting he's about to get washed right now. Like

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Speaker 1: if you're doing laundry, you know what I'm talking about,

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Speaker 1: You soak it before you wash it. That's where he's at. Historically,

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Speaker 1: in his playoff career, Russell Westbrook six and three against

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Speaker 1: Chris Paul, he averages twenty three, six and seven and

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Speaker 1: forty seven percent shooting. All right, Well, he hasn't been

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs against them in a few years. Where

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Speaker 1: does that mean? All right? Well, his last three games

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Speaker 1: against him on a dreadful Lakers team against Phoenix, which

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Speaker 1: at that time was the best team in the Western Conference,

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Speaker 1: he was giving you twenty two nine and six on

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Speaker 1: forty seven percent shooting. Chris Paul at this stage in

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Speaker 1: his career is no longer a good defender. Chris Paul

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Speaker 1: this stage in his career is a traffic cone relatively speaking,

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Speaker 1: compared to what he used to be. He's just not

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Speaker 1: a good defender anymore. So. Russell Westbrook is going to

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Speaker 1: be able to get downhill on Chris Paul and that

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Speaker 1: defense repeatedly because the shooting is so good on the Clippers,

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Speaker 1: They're not going to send the double team. They're not

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Speaker 1: going to bring DeAndre a nut because I visa Subac

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Speaker 1: is a good enough center, so he can, you know,

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Speaker 1: make the most of those opportunities. This series is going

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Speaker 1: to be a lot closer than I think you expected. Oh,

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Speaker 1: you've seen too much Lakers Clippers because the Clippers own

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. What are they won? Thirteen or eleven? Straighter

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Speaker 1: a lot of games. I think you are seeing that,

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Speaker 1: And again I'm not. I don't. I'm not pay and

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Speaker 1: the Suns to win the title. I won't give the

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Speaker 1: pickup until Friday, but if you are interested in putting

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Speaker 1: some money on this, this is how wide of the

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Speaker 1: gap the Suns to win the series. Are minus four fifty,

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Speaker 1: so you gotta bet four hundred and fifty bucks to

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Speaker 1: win one hundred that the Sons will win the series.

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Speaker 1: So obviously everybody has them winning the series. Now this

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Speaker 1: is where it gets interesting. How many games does the

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Speaker 1: series go? If you are like me and you believe

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Speaker 1: it goes four games plus four sixty, so you want

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Speaker 1: to bet one hundred bucks you win four sixty. That

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Speaker 1: I mean, listen, five is plus two hundred, six is

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Speaker 1: plus two thirty, seven is plus two twenty. So not

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Speaker 1: a huge range there. Rob Again, the Games A series

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Speaker 1: are starting in Phoenix, right, you get Kevin Durrant rested,

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Speaker 1: as I think the one key for Phoenix will be

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Speaker 1: can they get DeAndre eight and committed to this game.

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Speaker 1: We've seen moments where he doesn't get the ball for

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Speaker 1: a while on his jump shooting team and DeAndre eton

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Speaker 1: gets the loser's interest and then it becomes a problem

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Speaker 1: because they have no room protection and Tyler will have

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Speaker 1: to have his guys like Norman Powell attack getting to

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Speaker 1: the line. By the way, Powell had an amazing game

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Speaker 1: against the Lakers in that huge game the other night. Oh,

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Speaker 1: I guess it was last week. At this point where

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Speaker 1: the Lakers needed it to try to steal the five seed,

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Speaker 1: and Norman Powell had like twenty eight points got to

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Speaker 1: the line of ton and that is a weakness of

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Speaker 1: the Suns. Remember Monty Williams getting on the ref's case

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Speaker 1: about Anthony Davis shooting a billion free throws. There is

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Speaker 1: a weakness if they can get to the line a lot.

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Speaker 1: But again, Rob, you've got to convince me that Norman

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Speaker 1: Powell and Russell Westbrook, who by the way of shooting

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Speaker 1: sixty five percent from the line as a member of

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Speaker 1: the Clippers, like, you got to convince me that scares you.

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Speaker 1: And here's a great stat I got while researching the game.

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Speaker 1: The Clippers have been one of the most permitting defenses

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Speaker 1: in the league when it comes to points in the pain.

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Speaker 1: So this does shape up for Hey, let's get DeAndre

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Speaker 1: and some early touches, some urban buckets, and then they

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Speaker 1: have to collapse and then its lights out with Devin

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Speaker 1: Booker shooting and Kevin Durant. I just I'm really worried

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Speaker 1: about the paper clips. But I guess the bigger picture, Rob,

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Speaker 1: what happens if they do get dusted and fine, even

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Speaker 1: if it's not four. Oh what if it's for one? Like, Remember,

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Speaker 1: this is a Clippers team with Paul George and Kawhi

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Speaker 1: that was in deep, deep trouble against Luca don Chi

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Speaker 1: two years ago, deep trouble against Luca don and the MAVs.

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Speaker 1: It was Luca and the world. I mean, I think

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Speaker 1: the Sun's team is better than that MAVs team. I'm

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Speaker 1: just saying, like, this is not a incredible Clippers team.

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Speaker 1: If you're um Monty Williams and you're game planning, what's

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Speaker 1: a game plan against the Clippers? Do we let Kauai

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Speaker 1: eat and not let anyone else beat us? Or do

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Speaker 1: we just like double Kawhi and say we double dog

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Speaker 1: Dare Covington to go go off from deep or Norman

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Speaker 1: Powell or anything like. I just I play them straight up.

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Speaker 1: If Kawhi wants a billion shots, go to work Son,

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Speaker 1: go for you want to score forty, good luck wear down,

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Speaker 1: good luck defending Katie at the other end. Because the

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Speaker 1: Suns are not gonna lose a score Like, they're not

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Speaker 1: gonna lose a one twenty eight, one twenty six kind

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Speaker 1: of game at least. I don't see that with this

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Speaker 1: offensive firepower they have so maybe that is my hottest

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Speaker 1: take of the first round that I think the Clippers

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Speaker 1: get swept. I definitely think it's your hottest take in

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Speaker 1: the first round because we haven't fully vetted out the

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Speaker 1: rest of the playoff series, but I can already tell

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Speaker 1: you that's your hottest take in the first round. I mean,

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Speaker 1: are the Sixers going down against Brooklyn and Phil Bridges? No,

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Speaker 1: I don't think Denver's losing to whoever they play. That

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Speaker 1: we know the Bucks are not losing to whoever they play.

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Speaker 1: With this, Julius Randall's situation is troubling. It doesn't sound

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Speaker 1: like he's going to be able to go at least

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Speaker 1: the first two games, which is really bad news. I

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Speaker 1: don't know, Robert Well, I guess I guess they go

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Speaker 1: back to your Clippers thing is assuming they lose the series,

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Speaker 1: which I think we both think they're gonna lose. We're

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Speaker 1: just arguing over when in the series they're going to lose,

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Speaker 1: right if and when they lose. What they have going

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Speaker 1: for them is the building excuse that Paul George is hurt, right,

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Speaker 1: and that's the that's all they're going to need to

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Speaker 1: say we can run it back next season and I

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Speaker 1: still love their roster. I think the roster is incredible

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Speaker 1: that the problem for them seems to be a lack

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Speaker 1: of I don't want to say chemistry, but it's like

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Speaker 1: they don't care about the regular season. They don't bother

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Speaker 1: to build the habits and the trust in one another

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Speaker 1: that you need in postseason basketball. And that's one of

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Speaker 1: the reasons why, you know, when the idea was the

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Speaker 1: Lakers to get the five seat and take on Phoenix,

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Speaker 1: I was like, well, if we're gonna face Phoenix, or

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Speaker 1: rather face them earlier than later, because the more they

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Speaker 1: play together, the better they're going to get. And Phoenix,

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Speaker 1: I think they've only played eight games with Kevin Durant, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and they decided to rest him the last year with

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Speaker 1: the regular season, Like that's a dangerous combination heading into

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Speaker 1: the playoffs when you have no time on the floor together.

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Speaker 1: And that's one thing that the Clippers we're going to

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Speaker 1: have going for him that they've been playing without Paul

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Speaker 1: George for a while now. They have a style of

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Speaker 1: play that kind of fits what they do and would

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Speaker 1: I would be shocked if Tylu does not employ the

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Speaker 1: same kind of coaching strategy that teams did early against

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant before he turned his ankle in the first

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Speaker 1: couple of games, where they said, we are going to

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Speaker 1: double Devin Booker and Kevin Durant every time they get

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Speaker 1: the ball, and if Chris Paul and Josha Kogi are

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Speaker 1: hitting threes and then that's just it, we'll lose. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: tip your cap. But that's a good point about games

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Speaker 1: together and how the Suns will handle it because we

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Speaker 1: know Chris Paul can ride people hard and they don't

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Speaker 1: like it. We've seen teammates blow up at him. I

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Speaker 1: don't know how de book is going to handle it

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Speaker 1: if Chris Paul's blaming him, I don't know how Kevin

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Speaker 1: Durant's going to handle it. The quote that I always

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Speaker 1: remember sweat more in training, bleed less in war, and

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Speaker 1: it's like it's one of those situations rob where yeah,

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Speaker 1: maybe maybe the Clippers get him in Game one. I

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Speaker 1: think that's the one game to watch. We know the

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Speaker 1: Clippers don't have a big home court advantage. Hell, there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of Suns fans out here in LA and

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Speaker 1: we know there's not a lot of paperclip fans, So

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Speaker 1: I would say that's the big one the other game

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Speaker 1: or the other series. I guess that's really interesting is

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Speaker 1: money has come in on the Kings to win the series.

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Speaker 1: It was minus three hundred Warriors. Now it's down to

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Speaker 1: minus two sixty. So somebody out there is saying, listen,

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Speaker 1: I'm not believing the Warrior's hype, this wiggin stuff. Maybe

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Speaker 1: he's not gonna be ready. And there's a scenario where

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Speaker 1: the Kings, you know, I think they're gonna get game one.

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Speaker 1: That would be my guests. It's not till Saturday, so

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Speaker 1: let's see what's up with Wiggins. But you know, Sacramento

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Speaker 1: is going to be totally lit. They had to what

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Speaker 1: was it like, seventeen year drought, fifteen, whatever long length was,

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Speaker 1: but the longest NBA playoff drought. That's done, and now

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Speaker 1: the Jets have the longest playoff drout in profession sports.

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Speaker 1: Of course, because it's my Jets and we still don't

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Speaker 1: have Aaron Rodgers. But nevertheless, yeah, so I don't see

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Speaker 1: a ton of else happening on that front. Can I

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Speaker 1: tell you one thing that irked me on Monday? Fox

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Speaker 1: Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

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Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports radio dot

374
00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,000
Speaker 1: Com and within the iHeart Radio app search FSR to

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00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:56,520
Speaker 1: listen live. So I said on the herd kind of flippantly,

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Speaker 1: if you are the Blazers, And we didn't even get

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Speaker 1: to really him deep into the Damian Lillard stuff where

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Speaker 1: he was saying, I don't really want to play with

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Speaker 1: young guys. I'm ready to win. You know, we gotta

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Speaker 1: bring back Jeremy Grant. I'm sure you saw the quotes. Yes,

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Speaker 1: just like, wait, what this is a team that had

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Speaker 1: won no cap as my son likes to say, seven

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Speaker 1: games after the All Star Break in the last two

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Speaker 1: years combined. Basically, they have gone full on tank mode

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Speaker 1: the last two seasons. Another we're going to contend is

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Speaker 1: the pipe tree Nick Damian Lillard. I don't know what

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Speaker 1: he's thinking, but I'll ask you, like, Damian Lillar has

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Speaker 1: three years left on his deal than a player option

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Speaker 1: for like sixty million dollars. And that's that's not hyperbole.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, it's not sixty it's sixty three million dollars change.

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Speaker 1: I mean, and he's gonna be what thirty nine listen.

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Speaker 1: I love Damian Lillard. I think he's really one of

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Speaker 1: the great shooters. Of all time. I definitely think he's

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Speaker 1: a better player, no doubt. Don't even argue with me

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Speaker 1: Reggie Miller, like I don't even want to hear Damian

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Speaker 1: Lillard is more clutch than Reggie Miller. Just bite what

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Speaker 1: Pacers fans and nineties NBA sickophans will tell you that.

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Speaker 1: Being said, I floated this on Cowherd show. You know,

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Speaker 1: we're speculating because it's fun to take stabs of the future.

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Speaker 1: What happens if the Lakers, let's say they advance and

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Speaker 1: they get dusted by the grizz for one or they

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Speaker 1: don't advance, they lose both playing games. I don't know

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Speaker 1: any hyperbole and Lebron's like, I'm done with a d

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Speaker 1: Do you say, hey, Portland will give you Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 1: you get rid of Dame. You can have your backcourt

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Speaker 1: of the future now in Simon's and Sharp and you

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Speaker 1: could dump nerk, decide whatever you want to do with

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Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant and you make that deal. And then I floated, well,

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Speaker 1: what about the Clippers if they get swept by the

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Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns. What happens to Paul George? Is he the

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Speaker 1: fall guy? I can't imagine that they would ump Kawhi Leonard.

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Speaker 1: I think everybody thinks Kawhi is better than Paul George.

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Speaker 1: And if you're the Clippers, do you call Portland and say, hey,

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Speaker 1: can you give us Damian Lillard who's older than Paul

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Speaker 1: George And I was also added injury history. I know

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Speaker 1: Paul George's had one. I said, if you're the Blazers,

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Speaker 1: you take that in a heartbeat. Right Yet, Paul George

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Speaker 1: on the wing, a position they haven't had forever. You

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Speaker 1: don't need to pay Jeremy Grant to keep him. You

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Speaker 1: let him walk. You have your backcourt of the future

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Speaker 1: in Simon's and Sharpe, the young kid Sharp who was

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Speaker 1: pretty decent as a rookie. I don't know if he's

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Speaker 1: gonna make all t all rookie team, but he was

424
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:18,160
Speaker 1: pretty good. Like Rob, I think that's more attractive than

425
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,720
Speaker 1: being where Portland is, which is nowhere Ville. And Paul

426
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,320
Speaker 1: George's contract is only one more year than a player option.

427
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 1: And if you lose him, so what you got your backcourt?

428
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,879
Speaker 1: You move on like you're not going anywhere with Damian

429
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,399
Speaker 1: Lillard soul. Wouldn't you do that? If you're Portland and

430
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,719
Speaker 1: I'm sure the Clippers would love to do it. I mean,

431
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,000
Speaker 1: the Paul George experiment feels like it's near the end.

432
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,320
Speaker 1: And these Portland fans are like, you're crazy, we'd never

433
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:43,719
Speaker 1: give up Damian Lillard. I'm like Rob, I like Lillard

434
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:45,800
Speaker 1: a lot, but what are we doing here? If you're Portland?

435
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,000
Speaker 1: What's the game plan? Yeah? I mean the p one

436
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,640
Speaker 1: listener to the pod know that you've been on this

437
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:55,879
Speaker 1: train for what three years? Now that the Damian Lillard era,

438
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,080
Speaker 1: as we know what Importland needs to come to an end,

439
00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,879
Speaker 1: whether it's by his accord or the front office, because

440
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,800
Speaker 1: it's clear that it's run its course. There there is

441
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,360
Speaker 1: a ceiling with Damian Lillard as your best player in Portland.

442
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:10,880
Speaker 1: That's not to say that he's not capable of leading

443
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 1: a team to a championship, but in Portland, in a

444
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:15,919
Speaker 1: small market where it's hard to attract free agents, where

445
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,919
Speaker 1: they have a style of play that through two coaching

446
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 1: regimes now shows that they are all offense, no defense,

447
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,080
Speaker 1: all gas, no breaks, and Damian Lillard is the poster

448
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:28,720
Speaker 1: child for that style of play. He does not play

449
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,200
Speaker 1: any defense. I know we make fun of Luca Danges

450
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,240
Speaker 1: on this podcast and his you know, not playing defense.

451
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,639
Speaker 1: Dame Lillard is right there with him, side by side,

452
00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:40,720
Speaker 1: holding hands, walking towards the basket. Like what the Portland

453
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,600
Speaker 1: Trailblazers need to do and need to accept is they

454
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,840
Speaker 1: are better off without him than they are with him.

455
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,439
Speaker 1: It's gonna suck in the beginning because you're destined to

456
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,800
Speaker 1: be a twenty win team for the foreseeable future. But

457
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,040
Speaker 1: if you have any aspirations of winning a championship, you

458
00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,240
Speaker 1: got you gotta let him go. And side ball are

459
00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 1: you know, well unrelated, but the different track of this.

460
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,640
Speaker 1: I'm kind of over Damian Lillard at this point. Oh

461
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,000
Speaker 1: you can't be over no, dude. It's it's the it's

462
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,720
Speaker 1: the commentary, it's I'm loyal to the soil. I'm gonna

463
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:12,960
Speaker 1: do a rap song saying I'll never leave my team.

464
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 1: But then I'm gonna go on do a media press

465
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,760
Speaker 1: uh press conference and say I don't have an appetade

466
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 1: for bringing in guys there are two and three years away.

467
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 1: It's like, bro, well, where was this energy three years ago?

468
00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 1: You've been nothing has changed? What's different now than it

469
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,760
Speaker 1: was at the Summer Olympics when Henry Abbott said, Dame

470
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:32,920
Speaker 1: is going to request the trade, and then he decided

471
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,119
Speaker 1: to contact Chris Hanes. Like, that's not true. I'm not

472
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 1: going anywhere, you know. I love Portland. Wait wait, is

473
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,359
Speaker 1: that a thing loyal to the soil? Yeah, I'm not

474
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,040
Speaker 1: familiar with that. I like it. That is awesome, dude, oiled.

475
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,199
Speaker 1: It sounds very cool and almost a little gangster of you.

476
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 1: I I wish I could say made up, but I

477
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,480
Speaker 1: did not make that up. Oh, but it's like, bro,

478
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: like like make it. Make a choice. If you're that

479
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 1: in it and you want to stay in Portland because

480
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,199
Speaker 1: it means that much to you, because you want to

481
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,879
Speaker 1: fall on your sword or following your shielding cool, Like

482
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,800
Speaker 1: that's fine, then don't talk about Hey, I don't want

483
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 1: to rebuild because you can't have it both ways or

484
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,160
Speaker 1: by the way I had Dame. I don't know. We'll

485
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:13,960
Speaker 1: hammer out the all NBA teams this week. I'm somewhere

486
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,440
Speaker 1: between second and third team for Dame as a guard. Wow.

487
00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people will say, oh, come on,

488
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 1: he played it on like a near last place team.

489
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,080
Speaker 1: He only played fifty eight games. Okay, fine, I know

490
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:25,399
Speaker 1: guards loaded, but like, once you start looking at it,

491
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,280
Speaker 1: You're like, damn, his numbers really were incredible. I mean, yeah,

492
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,560
Speaker 1: I thought Dame had a very good season, probably third

493
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:33,480
Speaker 1: team All NBA. I mean, didn't he have one of

494
00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 1: the highest scoring nights. Yeah, come on, man, Damian Lillard's

495
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,120
Speaker 1: really I'm a huge fan, by the way, you guys

496
00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 1: know this. In my men's league, I don't. I'm not

497
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 1: loyal to the soil when it comes to sneakers, So

498
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,159
Speaker 1: I mix it up and I found probably over the

499
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:54,120
Speaker 1: last five years, that the Damian Lillard basketball sneakers are

500
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: the most comfortable for me to wear. So I've got

501
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,720
Speaker 1: the same pair the last two times, and then I

502
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:00,560
Speaker 1: had a different pair of La Dame before that. But

503
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 1: I'm a Lillard guy when it comes to those sneakers.

504
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,880
Speaker 1: I believe in his product. Like I'm not like I've

505
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,399
Speaker 1: gotten gifted some Paul George sneakers, but I'm not loyal

506
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,440
Speaker 1: to those at all. I've heard those are very comfortable

507
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,880
Speaker 1: as well. To play it pegs. I tried Mellows back

508
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 1: in the day and I was like, all right, well,

509
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 1: I mean very few of us are legitimate rec league

510
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,920
Speaker 1: man's basketball champion level players. Yeah, well, you know there's

511
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:26,440
Speaker 1: levels to this game, and I think you're at a

512
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,760
Speaker 1: different level than the rest of our listeners. I was

513
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:30,520
Speaker 1: just looking at some of the stats for Lillard. I

514
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,000
Speaker 1: should add he is a little older than Paul George,

515
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,800
Speaker 1: but not much. He's like a couple months older. The

516
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 1: wear and tear on the postseason for Dame. Paul George

517
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,960
Speaker 1: has had a couple of injuries. I just I would

518
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,159
Speaker 1: rather certain teams, certain guys fit. I feel like the

519
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,840
Speaker 1: Clippers have too much duplication. Like the wing thing was happening,

520
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 1: and it was definitely a thing, like you need to

521
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,640
Speaker 1: be flexible and defend on the wings. But we're seeing

522
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown and Tatum like it's working. They got to

523
00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,679
Speaker 1: the finals. But Rob like, let's be real. When you

524
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,760
Speaker 1: start looking around, like, hey, we'll do the Celtics need

525
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:04,840
Speaker 1: to do something to get better. Well, it ain't gonna

526
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 1: be moving Tatum, that's for sure. Who is an All

527
00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,600
Speaker 1: NBA First Team guy who is gonna win an MVP

528
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 1: one day, It's gotta be Jaylen Brown. So, just like

529
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 1: Kawhi and Paul George, I just don't know, and I'll

530
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 1: repeat it. The Clippers starting backcourt going into the playoffs.

531
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 1: It appears is going to be Russell Westbrook and Eric Gordon.

532
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 1: That's just not good. That's not gonna cut it against

533
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,880
Speaker 1: Chris Paul and Devin Booker. So we'll save the All

534
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,639
Speaker 1: NBA for later in the week. I will do a

535
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 1: best bet here in short order to wrap up the podcast.

536
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,080
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

537
00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports

538
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:46,520
Speaker 1: Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR

539
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:51,679
Speaker 1: to listen live. The only thing better than sitting on

540
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,760
Speaker 1: your couch watching the game is making money while you

541
00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:02,840
Speaker 1: do it. Here's your best bet. So I'm very excited

542
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,480
Speaker 1: for both games. Tonight should be good ones. I will

543
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: be in attendance at Lakers. Wolves should be a feisty

544
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:12,840
Speaker 1: t Wolves team. I know that I thought that the

545
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 1: number was a little high on Monday's pod. Well I'm

546
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:17,520
Speaker 1: telling you today the number has only gone up. I

547
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 1: see it at eight at Caesar's and I'm sorry, guys,

548
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,199
Speaker 1: you gotta take the points with the timber Wolves. I

549
00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 1: know everybody in their mom has betting the Lakers here.

550
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,120
Speaker 1: Everybody's gonna say, oh, Lakers got a steamroll, No nas

551
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 1: read come on, Noe Jade McDaniels. I mean, Rudy Go

552
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:33,480
Speaker 1: Bears not playing, and it's almost to the point where

553
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 1: it's like, well, huh, Anthony Edwards is still alive. Kyle

554
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:41,399
Speaker 1: Anderson's going to be up there showing out. He's like

555
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 1: the new leader of the team almost. I think there's

556
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 1: a strong case that the timber Wolves can at least

557
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:50,000
Speaker 1: keep it close, make enough volume three pointers. You know

558
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 1: they're not gonna play any defense, so Anthony Davis is

559
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 1: gonna eat. I would look at Anthony Davis props, specially rebounds.

560
00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: I don't see a case where Anthony Davis doesn't have

561
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,679
Speaker 1: a big game short of you know, injury or foul trouble.

562
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:02,800
Speaker 1: But I don't see him getting in massive foul trouble.

563
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,639
Speaker 1: I gotta take the eight from the Wolves. You know

564
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,920
Speaker 1: this opened at six and a half. You can find

565
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 1: an eight out there. This is the Lakers team that's

566
00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:15,879
Speaker 1: number one in defense since the Westbrook trade. Vanderbilt, de'angelo, Russell,

567
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,919
Speaker 1: and Beasley all have familiarity. I would not be surprised

568
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,160
Speaker 1: if Vanderbilt said I want Towns. I could. I could

569
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,119
Speaker 1: check him. I throw out the season matchups. It just

570
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,400
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like those matter given so many changes on

571
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:32,280
Speaker 1: both teams, I do think the Timberwolves can cover eight

572
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:36,359
Speaker 1: in the other game. I know nobody likes the Atlanta

573
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,320
Speaker 1: Hawks this year. Tray Young, oh, you can't shoot, he's

574
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,680
Speaker 1: having his worst year ever from three people are so

575
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 1: down on the Hawks. I think I'm gonna go with

576
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,120
Speaker 1: both dogs. In the Atlanta Hawks getting four and a

577
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 1: half in Miami, I would not be surprised if this

578
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:52,600
Speaker 1: is for last year in this series. Basically, Miami just

579
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: said we're gonna bottle up Trey Young, We're gonna swarm him,

580
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:57,520
Speaker 1: double him. He's gonna get nothing. And nobody else on

581
00:28:57,560 --> 00:28:59,120
Speaker 1: Atlanta was there. So the Hawks, what do they do

582
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:00,960
Speaker 1: in the offseason? They say, you got to add a body.

583
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,280
Speaker 1: Let's go grab Jejohn to Murray. They give up a

584
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,960
Speaker 1: lot for Murray. They now can surround Trey Young with Murray,

585
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,920
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hunter and Sadique Bay if they want to go small.

586
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 1: I think this is a Hawks team that will be

587
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: way more feisty and Quinn Kyle sorry, Quinn Snyder a

588
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 1: very good postseason coach. I just I think Miami could

589
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 1: be in some trouble. They are not a high scoring team.

590
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 1: They don't run away from teams, they'll they want to

591
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 1: grind it out and slow it down. Well, Bogdanovich from three,

592
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,360
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hund thirty five, Murray thirty four, Sadique Bay forty.

593
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 1: Now I'm just telling there's a scenario where they go,

594
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,240
Speaker 1: we're gonna we're gonna go small ball, DeAndre Hunter, maybe

595
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:46,160
Speaker 1: some five, Bogdanovich and Bay upfront, Murray and Trey Young,

596
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 1: They're gonna be able to give a lot of different

597
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 1: looks to this Miami team. In Miami, outside of Butler

598
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,800
Speaker 1: and Bam, they're just not a good team this year.

599
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:57,400
Speaker 1: There's a reason they're in the play game. Guys. This

600
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 1: is like Tyler Hero, I know, we average twenty points game,

601
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:04,560
Speaker 1: but after their big three, right after Butler, Bam and Hero,

602
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:08,720
Speaker 1: we're looking at Max Struss, what's seemingly forty five year

603
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:14,480
Speaker 1: old Kyle Lowry, you know, Caleb Martin, Okay, Gabe Vincent. Like,

604
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,239
Speaker 1: there's just not a lot of talent. Duncan Robinson has

605
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: really fallen out of favor. There's not a lot to

606
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 1: like about this Miami team. They're not the heat teams

607
00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:25,000
Speaker 1: of years past where they went to the Eastern Conference

608
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,840
Speaker 1: Finals last year with defense I mean, they were hosted

609
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 1: to the NBA Finals. I like, bam, you know, I

610
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,760
Speaker 1: love Jimmy Butler. I just I think there's actually too

611
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 1: many weapons on the Hawks. So I'm taking four and

612
00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,920
Speaker 1: a half. Part of me wants to take a little

613
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:41,720
Speaker 1: bit on the money line. The Hawks here to pull

614
00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 1: a massive upset, but I'm just trying to think historically,

615
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:49,200
Speaker 1: we don't see these huge upsets in the first round.

616
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:50,959
Speaker 1: Now people will say, well, it's just a second year

617
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 1: of the play. I get it, okay, but this is

618
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,240
Speaker 1: a Hawks team on the road, not great. Now, Miami

619
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 1: wasn't great at home. They were really good, looks like

620
00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:00,920
Speaker 1: fourth or fifth best in the East at home. But

621
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,160
Speaker 1: it's tough for me to take the Hawks on the

622
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:05,880
Speaker 1: money line. I'm sure I'll regret it. So give me

623
00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,440
Speaker 1: the Hawks four and a half, the Wolves plus eight,

624
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:10,280
Speaker 1: and we will see you tomorrow