John Paxson is a powerful voice in the Chicago Bulls' search for a new GM

Summary

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered — April 13, 2026

Episode Summary: "John Paxson is a Powerful Voice in the Chicago Bulls' Search for a New GM"

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Main Theme and Purpose

This episode dives deep into the power dynamics behind the Chicago Bulls’ ongoing search for a new General Manager (GM). Dan Bernstein, joined by longtime producer Matt Abbatacola, unpacks the re-emergence of John Paxson as a significant decision-maker, the organizational tendencies holding the Bulls back, Billy Donovan’s uncertain future, and what needs to happen for the team to take its next step. The discussion is a candid, in-depth examination delivered with the signature sharpness and Chicago flavor Bernstein’s listeners expect.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Bulls’ Offseason Begins: Setting the Stage

• Season Wrap-Up: The Bulls lost their final game, moving up in lottery odds—now with a 20.3% chance at a top four pick and 4.5% for the #1 pick (05:00).
• Notable End-of-Season Performances: Bernstein highlights undrafted and unlikely contributors like Lachlan Ulbricht (triple-double, 04:10) and local product John Poulikitas (28 points, "all that man does is shoot threes," 05:25), noting the quirkiness of end-of-season rotations.

2. John Paxson’s Surprising Central Role

• Paxson, Now Senior Advisor: With Artūras Karnišovas gone and Billy Donovan’s status in limbo, "the most powerful basketball person…is in fact truthfully John Paxson" (03:06), acting as advisor and key influencer in executive hiring.
• Bernstein draws a parallel to “Bob Pulford with the Blackhawks: the guy who’s always there. Organizationally, they need him.” (07:01)
• Paxton Never Really Left: “In case you were unaware, John Paxson has never left the organization. He’s always been there… just not forward-facing” (07:37).

Quote:

“Right now, the guy on Michael Reinsdorf’s shoulder leading him through this process is John Paxson. In a lot of ways, John Paxson at the moment is the most important person in the Bulls’ orbit. Whether he wanted to be or not…” — Dan Bernstein (09:01)

3. The Search Process & Its Limitations

• Outsourcing the Search: The Bulls are using a search firm, providing "plausible deniability" and a buffer from tough questions (09:45).
• Paxson’s Involvement: Bernstein is “told that John Paxson is going to be heavily involved in these interviews, sitting alongside Michael [Reinsdorf]” (10:20).
• Organizational Insularity: Bernstein warns about the trap of hiring from within/retaining the same mindset—"insularity is not necessarily a point of pride… Insularity is a trap, as it’s been for the White Sox for too long" (13:45).

Quote:

“I also hope that his [Paxson’s] perspectives and his wisdom is counterbalanced by new and different and outside thinking. I hope the Bulls understand that insularity is not necessarily a point of pride. Insularity is a trap.” — Dan Bernstein (13:45)

4. Billy Donovan’s Role & the Friction of Constraints

• Donovan's Meeting: A critical meeting is pending with Billy Donovan, whose future as coach is “likely” but not certain given personal difficulties and organizational shifts (06:57, 16:37).
• Coach as Leverage: The stipulation that the new GM must work with Donovan limits the pool of candidates—seen as “scary” and limiting by Bernstein (22:16, 24:01).
• The panel debates whether this lack of flexibility is about "fear," "comfort," "ego," or simply not wanting to be told their infrastructure needs a rebuild (25:26).

Quotes:

“Why do that to yourself, though? Why…limit yourself in what you can do?” — Matt Abbatacola (22:16)

“The reason why is because doing anything outside of that is scary. It’s daunting. They’re terrified.” — Dan Bernstein (22:27)

5. Player Input and Leadership Philosophy

• On Listening to Players: Bernstein dismisses the urgency of canvassing players’ opinions (like Modest Buzelis’ support for Donovan): “I’m not asking players what they think right now…I don’t care what a young player thinks. This is way bigger than that.” (12:19)
• What the Next GM Must Do: Beyond maximizing top picks, the next GM must find and develop "guys with at least one real NBA skill" (14:35). The Bulls are "chronically understaffed," needing more scouts and robust analytics—areas Bernstein stresses must be "real investments, not a box to be checked" (14:52).
• Comparison to Theo Epstein’s Cubs: The panel praises Tom Ricketts’ approach: "Theo had full control…he said, this department has to be double the size…Ricketts said, you're right, whatever you need." (27:26–28:00).

6. The Downside of Unchanging Leadership

• Jim Boylen as a Symptom: Bernstein rails against the organization’s previous mishaps—“This brain trust kept Jim Boylen…After he was interim. The entire basketball world has known Jim Boylen as an idiot and it’s why he’s always had these fringe jobs” (18:22).
• Can the Bulls Break the Cycle?: Discussion centers on whether the process might at least "get the Bulls closer to winning a championship…bring people in who can tell you things you don’t want to hear" (31:23).

7. Draft Philosophy: What the Bulls Need Most

• Type of Player Wanted: Bernstein: "A multilevel wing scorer who also can play defense…high basketball IQ…[and] rim protection" (32:50–33:18).
• Needs are dictated by whether the Bulls are committing to a passing point guard who can’t shoot/defend: "You are going to need shooting… and you… just need more interior deterrence." (33:24)

8. Paxson’s Motivations and Limitations

• Is Paxson Too Accustomed to Reinsdorf Expectations?: “He’s been there so long that his filter, his process is, I know what the Reinsdorf would want me to do” (36:05).
• Bernstein counters: Paxson "is not lacking for courage...not there looking to get pats on the back and yeses…could look Michael Reinsdorf in the eye and say, you need to take a leap of faith here” (37:03).

Quote:

“My hope is they’re listening. The key right now is not…It can work out just fine. But listen. Listen to what the candidates are telling you. If they’re honest with you, listen to what outside people are saying about it.” — Dan Bernstein (34:49)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story and just like really being very clear about what we needed, we had some really generous donations from people..." — Short feature on a GoFundMe success story (00:00, 19:54)
• “Lachlan Ulbricht finished the game with 10 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists." (04:09)
• On John Poulikitas: “All that man does is shoot threes…a big Lefty shooter…28 points…he’s going to stick in this league for a long time.” (05:31)

Best Exchange on Organizational Stagnation:

Matt: “Why do that to yourself, though? Why…limit yourself in what you can do?” (22:16)
Dan: “Because it’s scary. It’s insularity and it’s comfort. Owners can do whatever they want.” (22:23-26:13)

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Relevant Timestamps For Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Quote | | --------- | --- | | 03:06 | “John Paxson is…most powerful basketball person…” | | 05:25 | John Poulikitas’ breakout game/underdogs | | 09:45 | Search firm “plausible deniability” explanation | | 13:45 | Organizational insularity is a trap | | 16:37 | Billy Donovan’s commitment and coaching style | | 18:22 | Jim Boylen’s disastrous tenure | | 22:16 | Debate over limits on GM search (Donovan tied to job) | | 27:26 | Theo Epstein/Ricketts–full empowerment model | | 32:50 | Draft: Bulls' most needed player profile | | 34:49 | “Listen to what candidates are telling you…” | | 36:05 | Is Paxson too close to the Reinsdorfs? | | 37:03 | "Paxson is not lacking for courage..." |

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Tone & Style

• Candid, unfiltered, Chicago-centric: Bernstein is blunt, opinionated, and often sarcastic—the tone is equal parts frustrated and hopeful.
• Humorous Digressions & Local Flavor: Frequent references to past Bulls missteps, inside jokes about Jim Boylen, and loving barbs directed at national figures like John Smoltz.
• Context-Rich & Critical: The show provides both historical perspective and a critical lens on Bulls/White Sox leadership (and their repeated avoidance of external critique).

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Summary Takeaways

• John Paxson now stands as the Bulls’ most pivotal basketball executive, heavily influencing the GM search—and, perhaps, susceptible to the franchise’s historic insularity.
• Billy Donovan’s presumed return may hamstring the hierarchy, erecting obstacles for attracting a truly transformational external GM.
• Bernstein warns forcefully against comfort and organizational navel-gazing, imploring the Bulls to be receptive to new methods and thinkers, as Tom Ricketts did with Theo Epstein.
• There’s a hunger for a modern, empowered regime—one not bound by prematurely set constraints, legacy loyalties, or fear of hard truths.
• The search itself must be “enlightening,” and the ultimate goal: “Bring people in who can tell you things you don’t want to hear” (31:23).

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This episode is essential listening for Bulls fans, NBA observers, and anyone who wants to understand the intricacies — and frustrations — of major-market team-building, Chicago-style.

Transcript

[A]

My name is Mackenzie and I started a GoFundMe for the adoptive mother of a nonverbal autistic child. The mother had lost her job because she wasn't able to find adequate care for this autistic child. So she really needed some help with living expenses, paying some back bills. So I launched a GoFundMe to help support them during this crisis. And we raised about 10, $10,000 within just a couple of months. I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story and just like really being very clear about what we needed, we had some really generous donations from people who were really moved by the situation that this family was struggling with.

[B]

GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 200 million people. Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com that's gofundme.com gofundme.com this podcast is supported by GoFundMe.

[C]

Dan Bernstein unfiltered unfiltered on 312 sports it is DBU on 312 on this Monday we are brought to you in partnership with my bookie and today also by Chicago Window. Guys, this is a big week for your Chicago Bulls. Billy Donovan is scheduled to have his scheduled meeting with a lot hanging in the balance that he's going to talk to Michael Reinsdorf and anybody else that wants to talk to Billy Donovan. My guess is one of those people, as I'm going to get to, is going to be John Paxson, who is back at the forefront for the moment of everything that the Bulls are doing. No matter what you want to say about it, whether you like it or not, that the highest ranking basketball person on the masthead right now at the moment, while we can hold Billy Donovan in in abeyance because he hasn't decided he's definitely returning to this. I think he probably is. But at the moment the most powerful basketball person if, if we do this outside of Billy Donovan and his call is in fact truthfully John Paxson because he is listed as the senior advisor basketball operations. So the way this is going to work, as I understand it at the moment is absent someone above the assistant general managers who remain in place, pat Connolly and J.J. polk. They're doing all the day to day stuff. Those two among them are more than capable of splitting up the basic administrative end of season work. And I don't know exactly how player exit interviews are going to be done because those have to be completed now the season. Last night, if you weren't paying attention. And I feel like maybe I was the only person that was. I, as I said to Adam Amin last week, you know, I was watching Adam and Stacy last night after a fabulous day of sports viewing and just trying to flip between Cubs and Masters and enjoying the entire Masters and then making my quick grocery run coming back and there is the final Bulls game and it was perfect. There was no defense being played. There were just insane, bizarre things happening Statistically, as is often the case near the ends of seasons, there's a lot of career highs. There are a lot of I Did Lachlan Ulbricht have a triple double or did I dream that?

[D]

No, he did not. There's no shot.

[C]

I, I, I think he did.

[D]

No way.

[C]

Yes, it was, it was a strange game and it's one that you're kind of half paying attention and half not paying attention and just listening to or

[D]

not at all paying attention.

[C]

No. Well, I was. But Lachlan Ulbricht finished the game with 10 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

[D]

He sure did.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

And I want the record to reflect. And two steals. Lachlan Ulbricht had a triple double and only one turnover.

[D]

Yep.

[C]

So it doesn't mean anything.

[D]

So I mean, is that your center of the future? Is that, I mean, is that what we're talking about?

[C]

Please understand, it doesn't mean anything.

[D]

So we're building around modest Josh and Lachlan.

[C]

But also, can I just send just a quick shout out before we get into this a little bit further? John Poolakitis. That dude. Local star John Pulaquitis, 66205, from Naperville, Illinois. He went to Yale. All that man does is shoot threes and he is, he, he can't wait to shoot it. It is, it is. Touches his hands and that thing is gone. A big Lefty shooter guy, 28 points is worked at this. John Paula Keytas, you never heard of him before and he could not sound more Chicago John Pool Akitis. You see that guy stroking trees? I'm telling you that he's, he's going to stick in this league for a long time because the range is like Davis Berton's level kind of confidence in his range and, and if you, if you're a fan of local people who are unlikely guys made good. He is one of those Yale's own John Pool Akitis out there and they're running plays for him and he's shooting every, every time he touches it, he was firing it up there and why not? So, yeah, good for him. But The Bulls season ended and, and thank God they lost because it mattered so much that Milwaukee finished 32 and 50 and the Bulls finished 30. Because now that gives the Bulls, rather than a 13.9% chance at a top four lottery pick, they're up to 20.3% now. It's not the 29% it would have been had they caught Dallas with another five losses, but the Bulls end up with a 4.5% chance at the number one overall pick rather than a 3% chance. So ending with a loss last night mattered tremendously. So they're, they're at number nine. Number nine. And they've got a 20% chance at jumping up into the top four.

[D]

Well, Dan, with eight guys in double digits last night, are. Are they really that far off now?

[C]

I'm not, I'm not, not trafficking any of this.

[D]

Why are you not taking any of the base today, this morning? I'm not liking it.

[C]

No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm, I'm, I'm too. There's been too much fishing pressure on me. I'm too smart. I've seen too many lures at this point. You're going to have to go to Live Bait to try to entice me at this point, if I'm thinking like my quarry. But the, the role of John Paxton now is a large one. And there's going to be people who say, oh, again, like this is. Is it a little like Bob Pulford? That's the name that we keep bringing up, is the guy who's always there. Organizationally, they need him. Because Michael reinstall.

[D]

No, he never left.

[C]

No.

[D]

Yeah, I mean, he's always been there. In case you were unaware, John Paxton has never left the organization.

[C]

Nope. He's always been involved. He's always been around. He's just. He doesn't want anything that's been forward facing. Here's the thing, though, now it is, because when they decided, look, here's Billy Donovan, we're going to cast our lot with Billy Donovan. Presuming, Presuming that in this meeting that he decides to stick around, I, if you ask me right now, if I had to make a call, is Billy going anywhere? No, I don't think so. Because why would he? He just got a promotion that nobody really saw coming. He's been installed as the most powerful person in the organization on the basketball side, and that anybody they hire above him has to be willing to work with him, which essentially inverts things. And right now, the guy on Michael Reinsdorf's shoulder leading him through this process is John Paxton. In a lot of ways, John Paxton at the moment is the most important person in the bull's orbit. Whether he wanted to be or not, whether he wanted to, you know, somebody like me to be talking about pax. That's just a fact. It's just where they are. And because Michael Reinsdorf is not a, a basketball guy, he doesn't have his own contacts, he doesn't have his own list of people that he's going to call in. There is a search firm being used and I know the Bulls are making a big deal. We're using a search firm that's smart. It allows you all kinds of plausible deniability and it allows you to not be able to comment on things because of the way that these arrangements and the contracting of the search firm is involved. You can just say, well, that's where we can't talk about that right now. A search firm is handling that and it allows you to be able to not answer some things. And that's why NFL teams always do it. And the fact is the search firm can come up with a list of recommendations and you can reject all of them if you don't like them. Even if you have somebody in mind that you just like and want to hire, you can still go through this entire process and have the protection, have the COVID of a search firm being involved. I am told that John Paxton is going to be heavily involved in these interviews, sitting alongside Michael and we'll see how it goes. We'll see how wide a net is cast right now as coming out of the woodwork was the phrase that was used as far as the people who are interested and as we discussed on Friday with the possibility of an outside the box candidate being the current co basketball head of caa. So it's possible that the Bulls are going to do this just the right way and ask all the questions about what they don't know and end up with the next visionary basketball mind who is fully empowered to come in and take everything over. It's more likely to be something less than that just because of the law of averages. And it does appear that there's going to be a lot of current Bulls DNA that is currently involved in whatever gets done. What bothered me a little bit over the weekend was seeing the we're already going around asking players what they think and modest Bou zealous was he said that he doesn't want to be here if Billy Donovan isn't here because Billy's been so important to his development. I get that. But I'm not asking players what they think right now. I'm just not interested. I don't care what, what a young player thinks. And I mean that in the kindest way. But this is way bigger than that. This decision that the Bulls are going to make about who is at the helm of everything that they're doing, it can't take into account. What does Modest Bouzelis think? It's nice to know. Thanks for offering. Thanks for, for opining. But I don't really need to know that right now. There's too many other things going on. And the next guy who comes in may not feel the same way about Modest Bouzelis as someone else does. I don't know what John Paxton's feelings are on Gideon Bouzelis and the supposed core of players, but boy, if you were listening carefully to the game last night on Chicago Sportsnet, to hear Adam and Stacy talking about development, they were looking at John Poulikitas and some of these other guys and they kept talking about how other teams find people undrafted. Finding, developing, looking at with the stuff that CC was doing last night as a rim protector. Like they're the good teams. They're two way guys. They're, they're G leaguers. All have at least one real NBA skill that can be developed. How do you find these people? Whoever takes over the Bulls, they've got to find guys. And it's outside of these high picks. Draft picks are significant. High draft picks are the lifeblood of an organization and getting them right is the lifeblood of an organization, but it's also working around the edges. And what anybody interviewing for this job is going to tell the Bulls is you're understaffed because the Bulls are chronically understaffed. And this has happened with Reinsdorf teams wherever they've been, the White Sox for a long time. It's getting better. We'll get to that in a little bit. But the White Sox have always chronically under equipped and understaffed because they just haven't paid for everything that they need to buy to have what all the other teams have. And that's for. I've been, I've been begging for this for years. More and better scouts, more and better analytics. Analytics are not a box to be checked. If you say, oh yeah, we got analytics, we got a guy, his name is analytics von analytics, and he sits in that room and he shuffles papers around. And you don't say that just to prove you commit to it, it has to really matter. And that shows in the resources. I've always known that John Paxton has been somebody who cares deeply about the Bulls organization and all he wants to do is for the Bulls to win more championships. I believe that. But I also hope that his perspectives and his wisdom is counterbalanced by new and different and outside thinking. I hope the Bulls understand that insularity is not necessarily a point of pride. Insularity is a trap, as it's been for the White Sox for too long. Everything internal. These are our people. We know how to do this. We're going to keep this and keep this and keep this. And that is not how you refresh the perspectives of your organization. But that's the situation in which they're in right now. The timetable at the moment is going to be player exit interviews. And they have not given us a specific time or day. Maybe it's already happened. It's possible that Billy Donovan already sat down with everybody and it was a perfunctory conversation. And he said, yeah, I've had a really difficult year personally, that's okay. And Billy was asked about it and he said things like that that isn't his family obligations with his. The deaths that he's been through in his family, his mother in law, his father, and now his own ailing mother are not going to be a factor in what he decides to do. That he's not going around searching for another job. And when I read everything that he said and how he said it, it sure sounds like his first intention. If everything goes okay, it appears to me that his first intention is to remain a Chicago Bull. And why wouldn't he? When you have the owner linking you hip to hip. Anybody we hire has got to be okay with Billy Donovan coaching the team. You don't want to leave jobs like that. You don't want to leave jobs where you can basically just write your own ticket and say, hey, here's what you're going to pay me. Here's where we are in this, here's what I need. And that trust goes both ways. It was so adorable with Billy taking timeouts last night when they're down 18 to 4 or whatever it was, and here's the last game of the season. And I smiled and I just said, I'll be damned.

[D]

Billy.

[C]

You keep coaching out there, my brother, in basketball, you keep fighting the fight. And he was never quite question his basketball sensibilities because when you're taking timeouts to talk to and coach, he just, he's coaching Mac McClung and Yuki Kawamura and he coached Lachlan Ulbricht up in that game into a. Into a triple double and just holding them to the same standard. I don't care who's on that floor. There is a way we play and a way we don't play. And there were some hilarious turnovers last night and some unbelievable defensive lapses that just had him like time out. We're gonna talk this over. Like, man, it is game 82. You are on the road and you've got a bunch of G League dudes out there Ballin and you are taking time out to teach the game. It's not like the Jim Boylan timeouts where that one in Toronto when they're down 25 points and he took a timeout for no reason saying what is it? He's preparing the children for the road instead of the.

[D]

No, no. They called the timeout so the guys could punch in.

[C]

They forgot. That's right.

[D]

They got in. They didn't clock in for the game.

[C]

And and I and the bring up that name is that it's never going to be lost on me that Jim Boylan and all of his his sneaky transparent politicking worked on Michael Reinsdorf. The whole sitting next to him on the plane and being all coachy and basketbally they kept boy like this. This organization retained one of the dumbest NBA coaches I've ever been around in my life.

[D]

Yeah. That's why it doesn't give me a whole ton of confidence.

[C]

Well that and I keep that that's part of the issue that I have through all of this. However the mechanism is whoever the advisors I would whatever your basketball mechanism was. This brain trust kept Jim Boylan after he was in interim and they got some idea the that the entire basketball world has known Jim Boylan as an idiot and it's why he's always had these fringe jobs. Or maybe somebody owes him a favor and puts him on the end of a bench somewhere. But they saw something there that nobody else anywhere in basketball has ever seen before or after and paid him a lot of money and indulged all that. So that my hope is that people have learned that after going through this that maybe having once Michael Reinsdorf stepped up to the four and made the hires that he did that seemed to make sense at the time that a lot of people around the league loved the Arturis carnish service hire and it didn't work. It was bad. And now we're trusting that the next one is not bad.

[D]

So I'm not making that up. I'm remembering that correctly. Right. That didn't. He put a time, like a time clock in for guys, right?

[C]

Yes.

[D]

Okay. Yeah, yeah. I couldn't remember if that was a made up.

[C]

No, no, no. He put that in there. He put that in there. And then, you know, because he worked at a car dealership where he had to do that or something. And I think only Ryan Archidiacono ever did it. I think.

[A]

My name is Mackenzie and I started to go fund me for the adoptive mother of a non verbal autistic child. The mother had lost her job because she wasn't able to find adequate care for this autistic child. So she really needed some help with living expenses, paying some back bills. So I launched a GoFundMe to help support them during this crisis. And we raised about $10,000 within just a couple of months. I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story and just like really being very clear about what we needed, we had some really generous donations from people who were really moved by the situation that this family was struggling with.

[B]

GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 200 million people. Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com that's gofundme.com gofundme.com this podcast is supported by GoFundMe.

[D]

You know, when we, when we talked about this, when this all first came up, that Michael Reinsdorf said, hey, whoever's coming in here is going to have to work with Billy Donovan.

[C]

And then that. Then he appeared in his emails to John Greenberg at the Athletic. He appeared to soften that stance a bit.

[D]

Yes.

[C]

Which.

[D]

Okay, so let's just say that that's the case. I didn't agree with it. I don't think it's the best avenue to take to build this organization into the direction and the path that they want to go to win championships. But can it work out? It certainly can. You said that guys came out of the woodwork about this job knowing that Billy done like. And at the end of it, it's like, all right, if Billy Donovan's your coach, you could do a lot worse. Obviously. A lot worse. So I'm sure there are guys that would take this job knowing that they're linked with Billy Donovan and he's going to be their coach. There are even guys that will say, yeah, I'll take this job knowing that Josh Giddey and Bou Zealous are guys that are going to be here now. I don't think either one of those guys are guys that you build around. I think those are guys you can add to a championship team.

[C]

They're guys you build with. You can build with, I would say.

[D]

Sure, yeah, but. But they still need a. An NBA superstar, okay? There's so much work here to do, so all of that can work out. Even with all these stipulations and things in place already.

[C]

It can all work out, of course.

[D]

But why do that to yourself, though? Why? Why. Why limit yourself in what you can do?

[C]

They shouldn't. And I'll give you the reason why, okay?

[D]

That's why I asked the question.

[C]

The reason why is because doing anything outside of that is scary. It's daunting. They're terrified.

[D]

That's not the answer I wanted to hear. You know, I wanted to hear some concrete, you know, evidence or no, these

[C]

guys will be like, it's two reasons. It's scary and it's expensive. And it's unfair for me to paint Michael with the same brush that one would use for his father. That's not fair. But where the. Chris gets hire by the White Sox was in large part, Jerry knew that somebody from the outside is going to come in there and look at the organization and look at the infrastructure and be like, oh, my God, you guys are stuck in 1994. I happened to use that year where they ended up being the best team in baseball and canceled the World Series. But. But the. They don't want to hear that. They don't want to hear, you got to double the size of this department and double the size of this department, and you've got to buy all these things, and you're just not in the same business that other teams are. That the reason you can hire Chris Getz is. He's not going to tell you that. And my hope is. My hope is that Michael is willing to have somebody come in here and say, there's a lot of areas where you're doing it wrong. There's. There's reasons why you're here, and they're here. There's reasons why you. You have been aiming for the play in and other teams are not. You're. You don't have enough scouts. You don't care enough about analytics.

[D]

You don't.

[C]

And I don't. I hate even calling it that. It's this idea of analytics. It's just a. For. I don't have a better term than modern basketball business. And having all the data and all the information at your fingertips and being able to process all of it, knowing what to do with that information and what that means for development, that usually the reason why you don't say, I'm hiring someone, that person is in charge of everything, can do whatever they want because it's scary to them. They don't want somebody to be like, all these people have to go. All these scouts suck. They're all gone. Your entire roster is blown out. All of these draft picks, everybody that if I'm starting from scratch, I'm starting from scratch. And you want me to run your team, you got to let me run your team. That I don't think they believe unless R.C. buford or Sam Presti picks up the phone and says, yeah, on these conditions, I'll take that job and I'll remake your franchise and we'll be a champion within six years. But I don't think they're getting that call, and I don't think they've got the stomach for it, especially the Bulls, because of how important it is to draw and how important it is for them to do the successful dinner theater.

[D]

All right, let me. Let me. Let me stop you there for a second, because I asked the question why? And you said, I'm going to tell you why.

[C]

Because it's scary. Mm.

[D]

That's a bullshit answer.

[C]

It's an honest answer.

[D]

I know, but it's a bullshit answer because I don't. I don't buy it. I don't. I don't believe that. I don't believe that they're scared or. It's. It's.

[C]

It's.

[D]

It's a. You just said that they don't have the stomach for it, then you shouldn't be in that position. For me, it's either an ego thing, or they're just. They're stubborn, or they just don't really care about winning championships.

[C]

It's part of all of it.

[D]

Saying that you're scared. It's a scary thing. They wouldn't have that. You've been doing this for days.

[C]

No, they would. No, I'm not saying.

[D]

They're doing this for decades, though.

[C]

They wouldn't say that.

[D]

They wouldn't say that. I'm not saying they wouldn't say that. But if. If that. That's really where their thinking is. That is total. And it's unfair to the White Sox fan base, and it's unfair to the Bulls fan base. It's either your ego, because I can do it my way. I know how to do it. I can fix this, or you're just comfort. Stubborn.

[C]

It's comfort. It's insularity and it's time to get out. It's insularity and it's comfort. But that's. Hey, man, owners. Owners can do whatever they want. Owners, of course they can't. They can do whatever they want and they can.

[D]

But that's not fair to your fan base.

[C]

The.

[D]

That's shitty, man.

[C]

That's not.

[D]

That's not okay.

[C]

I would prefer. My. My personal preference would be that there are no preconceived stipulations or caveats. None. Not Billy Donovan. Not just giddy, not modest, Bou Zealous. My. My preference. My preference would be we will hire the smartest, best person. We will find the next Sam Presti. And that person has unfettered decision making power with the exception of. Of anything crazy where somebody would always come to let an owner know, I would like to do this, I would like to do that. That. You don't want anybody reckless, but you also want somebody empowered.

[D]

Right. But if you. If you find the smartest guy available, get the best guy available, they're not going to be reckless. Dan. I mean, you know, I hate to use the example of Tom Ricketts and 2014 and going out and looking for and finding and bringing in the best in baseball.

[C]

Yep.

[D]

And Theo had full control. Got to do what he wanted to do. And the. There's no guarantee that there's a.

[C]

To Ricketts his credit, some of the first stuff that was done there was infrastructural.

[D]

Yes, it was, it was. It was because Theo walked in and said, what the.

[C]

Is going on around here?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And he said, well, where I. This department has to be double. The size and the bandwidth of this has to be double. And the computing power has to be this. And we need. This has to be radically revamped. And to Ricketts's credit, he said, you're right. Okay. Whatever you need.

[D]

And I'll tell you why this is really shitty. Because Jerry Reinsdorf has personal memories and personal feelings about not only winning championships in the NBA, but winning a World Series championship. He knows what that feels like. He knows what it is to be the owner of an organization that is on top after the end of a season and did it multiple times for the Bulls. Obviously he knows what that feels like. Why wouldn't you want that back? Why?

[C]

I. I think they do. I know it sounds.

[D]

Well, then, then prove it to me and show it to me.

[C]

I.

[D]

Because they're not showing it to Me, Dan.

[C]

I think they're balancing that desire with, with fear and with the unknown of, of not really having. Outside of John Paxton right now. I don't know how Michael Reinsdorf, once the search firm comes up with a short list, say everything works just right, and the search firm comes up with an objective shortlist of qualified people, then the most important opinion after that point in large part is going to be that of John Paxson. And however that makes you feel, whether confident or whether exhausted, skeptical, it's all valid. Because at some point, somebody has to decide who that. Who the new person is.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And we'll find out when push comes to shove and they actually get in that room. How they stand by what they've said, particularly about Billy Donovan and whether or not that ends up being in an actual negotiation. When they've, they've got a list of their, their, their three finalists and if one says, I'll take this job, you can't tie me to a coach. What may happen is there would be like a vesting period. If you say, and I don't know what they're telling Billy right now, because that's. This week is critical because I don't know, are they going to promise Billy Donovan like you're going to be. Are they going to extend a guaranteed deal? How is that going to work? And I've said it before, if I were Billy Donovan, I would come in with demands, new contract. You, you just. Whatever his contract is, the, the moment those words came out of his mouth. Yeah. About the commitment to Billy Donovan. I'm going in and asking for more money and maybe even a better title. Regardless of what, what you're expecting of me, that I'm. Whether they're not going to name Billy Donovan coach gm. But I'm, I'm asking for a whole lot more money and I want some money coming back to me for being your team spokesperson. Unpaid.

[D]

Yeah, you've said that. I get that point too, if I'm his agent. But let's just say that there's a list of 20 names and these are, these are 20 qualified really good people in the NBA. Okay. And it's just, it's really unfortunate and it bothers me to think, oh, you know what, we have to take 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 12, and 17 off the list because they want. They have a different coach in mind.

[C]

Can't do that.

[D]

That's too bad. That really, that's, that's really too bad if that's the way it comes out.

[C]

And it may just Be that things change it there he can say I, the process. If we allowed the process to play out and we allowed things that we learned during the process to enlighten us, to change our mind. At the very, very least, regardless of that choice, the process itself must get the Bulls closer to winning a championship. Bring people in who can tell you things you don't want to hear.

[D]

And I, and I would be totally okay with that as a fan. If the owner said, hey, this is the direction we're going and then a couple weeks later the owner says, hey, you know what, the process played out and here's where we're going now, I'd be okay with that. I don't know if they could do that though.

[C]

I don't know either because they, they get scared and they tend to default to things that make them comfortable.

[D]

Let me ask you one quick question about an NBA and outside of this topic here, and I don't need a specific name because we're still, you know, weeks and weeks and weeks away from the NBA draft and how it's all going to, going to pan out. Don't give me a specific player in college, but give me, give me the, the type of guy. Okay, let's say the bulls pick at nine. You said that's where they're at, right? Nine. Okay, so they have a top 10 pick. What's the type of guy you want them to bring in? Like what style of guy? Even position of guy. What, what kind of player do you want the Bulls to bring in, in their, in their top 10 pick?

[C]

I would like a, a, a multilevel wing scorer who also can play defense. Somebody who can create for himself but has a high basketball iq. That would be number one. And number two is going to be rim protection. Rim protection. They need length and height. This is an above the rim game that the Bulls too often play below it.

[D]

All right, so number one, you said that the wing guy that can the score. So is that, is that like a six, five to six.

[C]

I don't care. Yeah, whatever. You, I don't, I don't. You just, you need. And unfortunately a lot of this revolves around if you're, if you're committing to a point guard who isn't a shooter. If you're committing to a 6, 8 dynamic different style of point guard. Are you going to build this roster with that in mind? Is your primary distributor going to be a guy who isn't a good defender and isn't a consistent three point shooter? So you are going to need shooting real NBA level shooting, shooting that other teams have. And you, you just need more interior deterrence. Every team plays drop defense now. Everybody's racing away from the area around the top of the key that is wide open, and the Bulls do that. And then they don't have anybody to actually defend the rim. But those, these tactical questions are going to come in a little bit down the line. I think the.

[D]

I just wanted to ask. I was, I was curious to pick your brain as I start looking towards things and. Yeah. And filtering through stuff.

[C]

So that's the important thing right now to understand is this, is, this is. Until Billy makes up his mind this week. At the moment, this is. John Paxson is the most important person in the Bulls world.

[D]

All right. How does that make you moment? You, you personally.

[C]

I know. I don't question his commitment. I don't question. Question his motivation. I just question whether or not they've got enough outside opinions that they, that, that. My hope is they're listening. The key right now is not. It can work out just fine. But listen. Listen to what the candidates are telling you. If they're honest with you. Listen to what outside people are saying about it. When you're talking to people from the Thunder and you're talking to people from the spurs and you're talking to people from other organizations. What. What's Atlanta doing? What are the Raptors doing? How did the Celtics figure out how to stay this good without Jason Tatum?

[D]

How do we know that they're doing that, though?

[C]

Talk to these people.

[D]

How do we know that they're. That they're doing that?

[C]

Well, we have to. I mean, I'm not in the meetings, right. But, but the goal of any of these things is to confront what you're. What other teams can tell you that you're not doing well enough. And listen, listen and learn.

[D]

Is, is this a fair. Is this a fair criticism of John Paxton being at the top of this, this mountain right now? Is this a fair criticism? And I personally don't have any great feelings about Paxton being there. Great. If he's the guy. Great.

[C]

I don't care either way.

[D]

But is this fair that he's been there so long that his filter, his process is. I know what the Reinsdorf would want me to do.

[C]

Maybe you know that that's the trap you fall into with people who aren't refreshed, who aren't. It's, it's why boards of directors of organizations have term limits, because Paxton could

[D]

say, hey, we need to go down Avenue X, Y and Z. And look, look, look, look down this road. But he could pull back and say, yeah, but I know that they won't want to do that, so I'm not even going to bring that forward.

[C]

It's possible. Or you hope he's too old to care, and you hope that he just says, hey, this is, this is wrong, and this has been wrong, and this has to change. Look, Paxton is not lacking for courage. I don't, I don't know. I, I think that that would be out of character for John. Okay. I do. I think that particular scenario. I don't claim to know him well, but I think ethically, he's. He's not a coward and he's not a quizzling, that he's not there looking to get pats on the back and yeses. I, I think John Paxton could look Michael Reinsdorf in the eye and say, you need to take a leap of faith here.

[D]

Yeah, and I, I wasn't insinuating that at all about Pax.

[C]

I know you weren't. I don't want to make it sound like you were.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

No, I, if he's, he's, if he,

[D]

if he know because he has so much knowledge of being there for so long that it's like, all right, I think we should go this way. But I know that they're not gonna. That's not how they. It's like knowing, you know, like, Paxton's got to set up dinner reservations for the Reinsdorfs and they're all going out to dinner.

[C]

Right.

[D]

He knows. Yeah.

[C]

He knows that they don't like this. Right. Right.

[D]

I'm not gonna do it.

[C]

No, I, I, I, I. That is one thing that, that I would not presume that Paxton would take things off the list that. I don't think that's in his nature as a competitor. Okay.

[D]

I think, I think, again, I wasn't saying that. I, I felt.

[C]

No, I know. No, I, I don't. I don't for a second question his competitiveness. If anything, that's been the bane of his existence. If anything, that's what, you know, it's, it's taken years off his life being that competitive, really. Sorry, John. No, but that's.

[D]

We just took years off your life.

[C]

I'm just saying, you know, that's why some of these guys age, like presidents. Some presidents, you know, whenever the stakes are high, my bookie is where you turn bets into bankroll. There's always a big matchup on the schedule, and everybody's watching. We all got to Take the props are always fun. I know you're looking around right now. We got these play in games that are going to be starting. If you like to bet on baseball, there's all kinds of room for understanding some inefficiencies there. But that my bookie prop board is where you got to go, because that's where you can play on all of these hunches and this knowledge that you may have, because my bookie's got the prop board that's deep and fun to play and all of the stuff that you regularly like, whether it's the money lines, the point spreads, parlays, you can get in right now with one account, one wallet, and you can bet whatever you want. There's even a casino where you can go during halftime or between games. Everything is at MyBookie AG. The code you're gonna use is DBU. The letters for Dan Bernstein, unfiltered DBU gets you your first bet covered up to 500 bucks. And if it doesn't hit, you have a bet back bonus token. And that way, huh, you can run it back like it didn't happen. Then you're not just watching the action, you are making it pay. With my bookie flipping channels, yeah, it was tough during the Cubs game and the Masters I did get to take in. It was so awesome on Saturday, both Friday and Saturday, actually, both, because I was out doing stuff all afternoon, and I decided I wasn't going to look at the Masters leaderboard, and I was going to watch the encore presentation and sit there and snack and watch golf. And the house is quiet. Everyone else was asleep. And then I watch, you know, Rory storm to the six stroke lead. And then I had. Then I'm watching it. Oh, let's see. And then watching him melt down and struggle and fight himself. And it was excruciating because, oh, man, don't do this. And every next shot. So I was so excited for Sunday and excited that we had, you know, 30 mile an hour winds that were going to keep me from having to want to go fish. So, you know, I even got up relatively early and I was. I flipped with the Cubs game and then settled in to watch the Masters. And I had a great day. Just, you know, there. And when it's barely any commercials and you can just do whatever you're doing, it's on all day and there at the end, cbs this is now. Remember Augusta for cbs? That's like an extension of their studio. They know every blade of grass, they know every pin placement, where to put the cameras it is. There are no excuses for missing anything. And then we get to 18, and they don't know where either one of the approach shots is. Like, guys, help me out here. I've been with you for four days. Help me out. Just, where's the ball? Where's the ball? And they see one in the trap. And like, well, that's Rory's ball because it has his name on it. Well, fine, but you should have. How did you not see it land there? This is the 18th hole in Augusta. Your CBS, that's Jim. Nancy's right there. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know where to go. I don't know, like, after it happened

[D]

a couple times on Thursday as well. I can't. I can't remember specifically which golfers, but I'm watching, and the shots went off, and they were approach shots. I think there might even been one, a tee shot on a par three, and it was like, all right, well, where'd the ball go, guys?

[C]

You know, every spin. Like, you can. You can show me. You can show me the velocity with which it left the face of the club. You can show me the swing speed and the top tracer. And there it goes. And will it stay in the fairway? And where is it? And Dottie Pepper.

[D]

Well, I'll tell you.

[C]

Why is.

[D]

You want to know what happened? Because I don't know if you caught it as much as I did watching this weekend. The. The data points about strokes gained and the graphics about strokes gained and the number of times that graphics were on the screen when they weren't actually showing what's on the golf course got too much. I mean, it's. It's the. It's the Masters. Keep it simple. Show the players. Show the ball. I don't. I don't. I don't need you to make me a better, smarter watcher of golf or gambler. Or gambler. Show me. Show me what's happening. Let me just watch it. Let me see this beautiful environment that we get to see once a year on our TV screens. Just show me that there was. There was too much data points and strokes gained. And he had this shot here, and he gained a half a stroke here with this.

[C]

Stop. It didn't. It's the Masters didn't bother me all that much. As long as you're able to keep.

[D]

Bother me. But. But they. It took away from seeing what's on the course and.

[C]

God, watching Rory's body language and seeing as he starts to run his hand through his hair and you, oh, you could just feel that, you know, him tightening up and then for him to recover from it, for him to make that the 16, that, that, that long looping putt where he's using gravity to pick a spot on the green where he knew that that putt had to stop and just let gravity take over. To be able to feel that, to be able to intuit that and roll it all the way up and out and let it funnel down to the hole for a tap in the way he did. Being that in charge of his faculties after everything he'd been through in the last 96 hours or whatever his he's going through in these cycles, it's not just on the course, it's the, you know, eating and sleeping and waking up and everything you have to do to retain that focus every single day to come back from a horrendous round when nothing worked and then to spray the drive on 18 and have to use that cushion, you know, to need that two stroke lead at the end. Just extremely happy for him and to watch Scheffler hang around and hang around and hang around and then run into the inexorability of Scheffler was fun to watch. I there. There's just so many great golfers. It is so hard for, for him, for Rory McElroy now to join Nicholas and Faldo and Tiger. For him to do it in, in this competitive environment may be the best achievement of all.

[D]

It probably is because the way it's, it's set up, Dan going into the weekend as the greatest league lead after 36 holes, the, the biggest lead ever in Masters history. Six strokes and it was setting up to be a complete and total and would have been the biggest collapse.

[C]

Well, it was, he did collapse. He was down two strokes.

[D]

But he still won though. I know he still won, but he still won. I mean can you imagine the difference if he doesn't win yesterday and what we're talking about and what that does to him not only for the next several weeks but for his career to be known as the guy who had the greatest collapse and yeah, he still

[C]

got the jacket though. He's.

[D]

Yeah, I know. Oh, I know. No, he's good.

[C]

And Andy still can go to the champions locker room.

[D]

He was able to muster through Saturday and Sunday and get the win because of what he experienced last year. To have to hear him describe it and talk about not, not such great joy and just overwhelming excitement and, and happiness but for him to say, oh, it was Just such a relief. It was such a relief to finally win. It was really cool. Really cool. And I'm happy for him. I. You know, I'm not. I'm not a. A huge Rory guy. I don't dislike Rory. I was glad to see him win it. That's really cool story to add is to be the fourth guy to do it. But what. What. What great drama it created in. Into the weekend with that. That. That big lead and then that collapse,

[C]

all the names and. And to see Justin Rose still there after what happened last year and that he was fighting through there was.

[D]

He can leave anytime he wants to.

[C]

You don't like what's not.

[D]

I don't like Justin Rose.

[C]

Why? What'd he do to you? He's fine.

[D]

He didn't know that he's got punch me face. I just want to punch him.

[C]

Just don't like him. Okay. I. You didn't. Not Russell Henley. He doesn't have that face.

[D]

No, I don't mind. I don't. Yeah. I think right now, if you ask me who I'd like the least on the tour, there's two guys. It's Phil and then Justin Rose.

[C]

Patrick Reed. Oh, he's technically not on the Tour, though. I mean, I guess he is now. I mean, obviously all that was the only condition that I had is you got to keep Billy Donovan as your coach. And Patrick. No, it's just anybody but Patrick Reed. Anybody. Is that because he's a fucking asshole?

[D]

Ask the answer.

[C]

And a cheater. The worst, though. Any. Anybody but Patrick Reed. Anybody ever at anything. Anybody but Patrick Reed.

[D]

What if the Bulls hire him?

[C]

It depends if he keeps Billy Donovan or not. You know, Russ Armstrong has the windows that you need. Well, he doesn't actually have. He makes them. He doesn't like, carry them around. But Russ has a factory in Chicago, and as Chicago window guys, what he does is he finds out exactly what you need, exactly what you want, and he gets you the best possible price. He'll measure everything, and then he will custom make these window to fit your house exactly how you want them to. And Russ came to my house and he showed me all these brochures and talked about windows. And I told him, honestly, I said, russ, I don't know anything about windows. So all I want is really good windows. I don't want to pay through the nose for these because I hear all these advertisements from big window, buy one get one free and buy two, get one or buy one get one, 50% off. He's like, they're gimmicks. I'm going to explain why they're gimmicks. And he explains how he can make you the best windows at the best price. He'll match any other offer, any other quote that you get. But because he uses no subcontracted labor and because he's in charge of everything, the peace of mind that goes along with this as well as getting the best price makes him the easy choice when you need windows. It's why he has all the five star reviews that you can check [e-mail] and ask about installation when you're talking to some of these other places. Because these other window giants, they don't know who's installing your windows. They're randos that are in your house and around your house. Not with Russ. He knows everybody. So and per my experience, they're always in touch with you about making sure everything's okay. Are they cleaning up? Are they communicating with you about who's where and being respectful of when they're inside the house. It's his crew, so you know that that part you're going to have peace of mind and he'll match any price. And he also has a guarantee that others don't have the lifetime guarantee with parts and labor. So if your kid breaks the glass playing catch out front, Russ will replace the window absolutely free. Call him. You got questions, he'll answer them for you. 847-302-9171 and check out Russ's five star reviews at ChicagoNowdownGuys.com Some cool things happening on the south side. Noah Schultz has been called up. Noah Schultz, the starting pitcher for tomorrow's game, the Chicago White Sox against the Rays. And this is a big deal. This is your first round pick from 2022 out of Oswego East High School. Noah Schultz is 6, 10, 2, 40, a left handed pitcher and he has had a long and winding minor league road since being drafted. Having been in the Prospect League at Illinois Valley and then working up through Kannapolis and Birmingham and Winston Salem and Charlotte and Birmingham and Charlotte. It's enough already. There's no such thing as a pitching prospect. If somebody's throwing well enough, get them up to the major leagues as soon as you can do so. Four years in the minors is plenty and it's time. So good luck to Noah Schultz. Enjoy it. Bring your Wake the kids. Bring the family. Wake your pets. It's a good reason on a Tuesday night to go to a baseball game. So if you are a big Sox fan, who knows? Maybe it'll, it'll be like the debuts of so many others. I remember when the big Michael Kopeck game and all, you know, compare it to whoever you want. But there's been some success stories in there too, especially with lefties. Chris Sale, Garrett Crochet, Carlos Rodon. White Sox have been pretty good at drafting and developing. I know Crochet was not a draft pick, he came in trade. But especially in Sale and Rodon, there's some big hard throwing lefties that have come up in the White Sox organization and maybe Noah Schultz is one of them. I will tell you that

[D]

when you

[C]

look at him and just watch some tape and tell me when you squint, tell me that doesn't look like Randy Johnson. Don't and please don't misrepresent this. And I am saying this to you, Matt, and to Cody Delmendo when it comes to portraying these comments that I'm so worried that I'm going to look at my computer and I'm just going to see. It's like Bernstein says that he's the next Randy Johnson. I am not saying that. I will say his delivery is reminiscent. When you look at a 6, 10 frame left handed, tangle up, you know, coil up and then unwind and untangle with that particular arm slot, who uses that fastball, that sweeper that feels to the hitter, especially a lefty, like he's not throwing from 60ft 6 inches and he's only throwing from 50ft by the time that body's extended. And you look at some of the swings that he's been getting at the minor league level, that they're the comps at this stage, they're not projections, but the comps to Randy Johnson from just looking at him, watching him, watching him throw, it's not crazy. I think if that, if that you see that, you're like, no, okay, I see a little Chris Sale, maybe a little beefier than Chris sale, by like £100 or maybe. Yeah, there's. It's okay to be excited. This is, this is why you're a baseball fan. If you want to be optimistic and say, I want to say that I was there. It's a perfectly good night to do it in. A perfectly good reason to go to one of the best restaurants in Chicago and buy yourself a ticket. It's like what we, we read the email that came in on Friday from Cam and Bridgeport, pay a couple of bucks and get a ticket and go walk around. If you want to see three innings, if you want to see? Look when they, when they take Noah Schultz out, whatever his pitch limit is at 85 or whatever it is, and you go home, maybe, who knows? Maybe they're down for nothing. We would have. But go, go get it. Get an inexpensive ticket, have a beer and a hot dog, and go watch a little bit of. Of White Sox history to see the first game of a very highly touted first round draft pick who happens to be a local kid. I wish him the best. I do not feel the same way about John Smoltz. And if you're one of the people that was rage baiting me, you were successful. Because at one point I noticed that via email, several people said, hey, Bernstein, hey, you see this? You see what Smoltz said? And I thought, oh, God, am I really going to click on this? And. You got me. Because at first I'm like, no, he didn't really say this. And I watched it over and over and over again, and I don't get it. You're gonna have to help me out with how this one works, because here's what happened. This is written up, actually, I think awful. Announcing appropriately got a wind of this, and it had to do with abs. And I think already we're settling into abs. Like we're getting it. Okay, look at that one again. All right, 30 seconds later. Ball. Strike. Yes. No. Done. Move on. And this is after I read the. The Ken Rosenthal piece last week about the umpires. I don't like this. I don't like the fact that we're being. We're being clowned out there or held to such stringent standards. It's okay, man. Human beings can't do some of this stuff, and it's okay. So Smoltz is calling Red Sox, Cardinals, bottom six. Jordan Walker is up. One out, base is empty. Called strike. Ranger Suarez. Boom. Strike. So Walker said, that's not a strike. Look at that. And they did. They looked at it. It was a ball correct challenge. So instead of oh, and one, it's one and oh. John, Smoltz could not or refused actively to understand what actually happened. You're going to have to help me with this one. Because Smoltz said, see, again, this is one I just don't understand. If you're a hitter, even though you get it right, it's only strike one. Yeah. John, why wouldn't you want ball one instead of strike one? Do I really need to show you what it, what the numbers say about the chances of you reaching base?

[D]

Now? If there was only a way Though you could understand, like what a one and oh count does, as opposed to an zero and one count.

[C]

Exactly. So either you don't want to know that, or you do know that and you're actively ignoring that. And it gets back to what I've said, that John Smoltz does not like baseball. Now he's, he goes out of his way to try to not understand baseball. Now he is making you dumber as a viewer because he doesn't like the current game. So he's going to say things that make no sense and that are actively wrong because he doesn't like the game. He's doing the opposite of his job, which is to help you understand why decisions are made based on the current rules of the game. It's not to make every single action fit a preconceived concept of how he wants the game to be. This made no sense. There are 8 year olds and 7 year olds and 6 year olds who understand you'd rather have ball one than strike one. Rather than looking at just the gory math and saying, here's why, because now your likelihood of reaching base just went up 30%. This is obvious or should be obvious. And when your number one national broadcaster either doesn't understand or worse, pretends not to, and I don't know which it is, I don't know if he actually doesn't get that ball one is better, or he's going out of his way to play dumb because he doesn't like the idea of abs. Because I don't, I don't know why he would say that, why he would say, this is one. I just don't understand, John. What don't you understand? And I'll try to explain it and anybody can try it. Someone in the truck can explain it. Even though you get it right, it's only strike one. I would say when it comes to strikes, you only get three. So if you can eliminate 33.3% of the strikes, that would make you out. That's a good thing, that you would want that.

[D]

Yeah, I got nothing for you. I, I, I got nothing for you.

[C]

So did you see this?

[D]

Yeah, I just.

[C]

Okay. So you knew I was going to talk about this.

[D]

Yeah, I just, I don't, I don't get it. And I, I don't want to get it. I don't want to get him. I don't want to hear him.

[C]

It's bad.

[D]

It's just, it's. Again, you could, you could go and you could show the data behind it. What, 1 and O does versus 0 and 1.

[C]

And he'll say, oh, I, I know all of that. But still.

[D]

No, no, no. You could go and do that. But in this particular case, with this particular question or argument, you don't need to look at any data.

[C]

Nope.

[D]

You could ask. I mean, I was at the new Lenox sports complex yesterday for baseball.

[C]

There were probably walk around and ask anybody. There is bar kids there yesterday.

[D]

I could ask every single kid from 8U all the way to 16 you that were there playing and say, would you rather have a 10 count or an O1 count? Every single one of them. Dan would say one O count.

[C]

Except John Smoltz. Except John Smoltz who says, I just don't understand it.

[D]

Yeah, I just, I got, I got no time for it.

[C]

How, how can the number one baseball analyst. And this is just to add to the long list that has been compiled. But that if you say you don't understand that, it's one thing to say, I don't like it. I don't like abs. I don't like the fact that we're taking 30 seconds here. I don't like the fact that there are decisions have to be made. But to say you don't understand it. Right. Is. Is mind boggling.

[D]

I mean, there have been a lot of dumb things. This, this might be for me at

[C]

the top of the list. Okay, it might be.

[D]

Hey, real quick, let me just. Is this.

[C]

Do you have your screen up so

[D]

you can see me?

[C]

Can you put it up?

[D]

Because I want to make sure that you. Is this okay? Is that acceptable? Is that.

[C]

Come on, man.

[D]

No.

[C]

Is that okay? No, you wouldn't. No, you probably would, but please don't.

[D]

Well, I wasn't until you. You've made that little, little word just if you're listening for you and it's

[C]

for Cody if you're not. If you happen to be listening audio only. Matt just held up his phone with what I hope is a mock up of the YouTube thumbnail of this podcast that says, like, what did it say? Bernstein says Schultz is next. Randy Johnson?

[D]

Yeah, Bernstein. Schultz is the next Randy Johnson. Is that what you said?

[C]

That's what I heard. And also, take a pot shot at South Sudanese basketball while you're at it. See if you put that one in there. Bernstein hates Lu. All Deng.

[D]

Oh, yeah, and if I mentioned this too, Wednesdays we're gonna have a new weekly baseball segment with John Schmaltz.

[C]

Really?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Okay. Yeah. He's just going to join us and

[D]

you get to ask him questions and you get to learn more about the game.

[C]

Ask Smoltz. All right, cool. Let me say RIP Phil Garner, scrap iron Phil Garner died at age 76. And this is one of these that for those of us of a certain age, he was just kind of a ubiquitous baseball presence. Old scrap iron Phil Garner was always around and he was. He had one really, really good year at age 30 when he was one of the leaders, an unsung leader of The Pittsburgh Pirates, 1979 World Series champion. Because of course, that was the we are family team. That was John Candelaria and Kent to Calvi and Dave Parker and really Starjill. Yeah, that, that Starjill and Parker are the ones that you think of immediately with that team. But Phil Garner had an.800 OPS that season and an OPS plus a 113A slash line.293.359, 441. He was a really good player. He did make three All Star teams in 76, 80 and 81. And the reason Phil Garner, I guess, ended up relatively important to me was when he was managing the Tigers in. Was it 2000, when I had just started doing the show with Terry in the middle of 1999, the very next baseball season, the first full baseball season, Terry and I worked together. Remember the White Sox Tigers fight? I don't know if you're. The huge fight that they had with. It erupted multiple times. Dean Palmer was hit by Jim Parquet. Palmer charged the mound. Remember Keith Falk took a punch under his eye. He had to be stitched up.

[D]

Oh, yeah, that's right.

[C]

Mags Ordonia suspended for five. And a bunch of fines came out. Robert F. Thick was leaving the field and he was flipping everybody off and like the benches emptied and then they emptied again. And it was what Bobby Howy suspended. Carlos Lee suspended. Tanyan Sturts suspended. Doug Brocale, Juan and Carnacion, Kareem Garcia, Luis Polonia, everybody. Terry and I and Matt Fishman got Phil Garner on the show and we had it out and we talked about what happened, why it happened, and all the old school baseball bullshit and oh, you got to have our shot at him. And then they did this and they did this and it was, it was great old time baseball stupid and, and it made for a lot of fun. And the fact that he came on like in the middle of. And he was already heated. It was. We had a blast with the interview and it was part of what we submitted that year back when the AIR Awards were going on and the short lived AIR awards. But it was actually, it was the March of Dimes and they did a nice job with it. And it was that segment that actually won Terry and me the AIR award for best sports talk. And it was Phil Garner and him being available, him being candid, him being energetic. And I'll just always remember that. And I have it that that award is sitting behind me in my at my home setup. So it was Phil Garner will always have kind of a place there. He was. He was not a great manager, Astros manager, when the White Sox won the World Series, correct? I think he was. He was sticking around there and did some nice jobs with those Astros teams, but never quite brought it home. And he died at age 76. It is time now for DBU picks presented by my bookie and I am going to pick with my heart and my head regarding tomorrow night and the first play in game for the Portland Trailblazers who are getting four points at the Phoenix Suns. If the Blazers win that game, they will advance to the playoffs and that means the Bulls would get their first round pick this year to add to their own current number 9 pick which could go higher after the lottery, but the Bulls would add another one. I'm going to take the Blazers plus the four points tomorrow night at Phoenix.

[D]

All right. I'm going to play that game as well as the other three playing games. So I'm going to go Charlotte minus five and a half versus the Heat Trailblazers plus four at Phoenix. I'm going to take the 76ers laying one and a half hosting Orlando and the Clippers minus five hosting Golden State.

[C]

Lock in your picks now with my bookie Bet on anything, anywhere, anytime. Those are DBU picks presented by my bookie and this has been dbu. We thank Chicago Window guys and we also have been presented in partnership with my bookie Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered unfiltered on 312 sports

[E]

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