Hour 2: Knicks, NFL Binge & Malachi Smith

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – March 30, 2026 (Hour 2): Knicks, NFL Binge & Malachi Smith

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Episode Overview

In this lively hour, Alan Hahn and Peter Rosenberg (with Don La Greca off) dig into New York sports headlines, a wild NYPD-FDNY hockey game, deep Knicks analysis following a contentious matchup with the Thunder, mock drafts and NFL quarterback debates, and close with a celebratory interview with UConn’s Malachi Smith after his team’s historic Final Four clinch. The tone throughout is energetic, opinionated, and loaded with New York sports flavor.

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Highlights & Notable Moments

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1. Kicking Off: FDNY vs NYPD Hockey Brawl (00:44 - 03:49)

• Hahn and Rosenberg recount the 52nd annual firefighter-police hockey game, where things got “old school 70s Broad Street Bullies hockey” and ended with a three-minute bench-clearing brawl.
• Rosenberg: “Who breaks up a fight when there’s already cops on the ice?”
• Hahn: “It’s such a rivalry... great passion. How good are the guys? Some are college-level, the rest are beer league—but all are ready to drop the gloves.”

[01:43] Rosenberg: “Just imagine officiating this game... the refs just stood there like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not breaking this up.’”

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2. “Drops” Tournament and Show Tradition (04:14 - 05:37)

• Listeners get an update on the show’s in-joke “drop-off” tournament, ranking greatest show sound drops.
• Hahn & Rosenberg crack up over drops like "Filth bag," "Southern Allen," and “You suck Pusick.”
  • Hahn: “Don’s all right, you’re a sex star. Filth bag is pretty great. It's kind of underrated great.”
  • Rosenberg: “Anthony’s zesty. That was a good one... but 'you suck Pusick' ironically still in business.”

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3. Knicks Recap: Frustration vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder (05:39 - 16:57)

A. Officiating Drama: Knicks, Thunder, and Foul Complaints

• Knicks lose to Oklahoma City and the show zeroes in on a recurring team flaw: over-focus on refereeing.
• Thunder labeled as the "Duke of the NBA":
  • Hahn: "[The Thunder] are maddening to play against."
  • Rosenberg: "Are they the Duke of the NBA?" (06:19)
  • Hahn: "They kind of are right, where they're really good and you just gotta tip your cap."

B. SGA’s Style and the Art of Drawing Fouls

• Deep breakdown on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s (SGA) uncanny ability to get to the line even on off nights.
  • Hahn: "You're talking about... the greatest players ever lived, that's who does it."
  • Rosenberg: "It's understanding the game and being able to control it... the game is played at your pace." (08:23)
• They compare SGA’s approach to past greats and debate the entertainment value of his style.
  • Guest Analyst (10:58): “We spent so much energy worrying about the officials... They had more turnovers, more second chance points... the officials had nothing to do with that.”
  • On SGA: “His body control is amazing. He knows when and who to attack... gamesmanship to get the call. So I take my hat off to him.” (11:29)
  • Rosenberg: “Does that sound like a compliment or a backhanded compliment?” (12:02)
• They equate the evolution of foul-hunting (“flopping”) from Ginobili to LeBron to Harden to SGA—questioning if it’s good for the NBA.

C. “Is SGA Fun to Watch?” – The Broader NBA Aesthetic Debate

• The hosts discuss which NBA stars are truly enjoyable (“breathtaking”) to watch.
  • Hahn: “Luka – breathtaking. Ant Edwards – as fun as anyone. Tyrese Maxey – fast as hell. Jaylen Brown.”
  • Rosenberg: “Do I want to pay to watch [SGA] play? I can name many I’d rather see first... He’ll be a Hall of Famer, but does that mean what he’s doing is great for the game?” (14:56)
• They broaden the discussion to Steph Curry, the copycat phenomenon, and unintended consequences for basketball’s next generation:
  • Hahn: “As much as I love him, I don’t think Steph has been good for the game. I don’t need everyone else trying to do Steph Curry.” (15:51)
  • Rosenberg: “Steph looks small on the court... He looks relatable—‘I can do that.’ But you can’t.”
• Allen Iverson is invoked as another “looks doable, but isn’t” Hall of Famer.

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4. Knicks Fan Calls: Cat Critique & Team Confidence (18:37 - 24:54)

Ernest from Brooklyn

• NYC caller, a self-admitted Nets-turned-Knicks fan, doubts Knicks’ playoff ceiling and laments Karl-Anthony Towns (“Cat”) as "soft" and not capitalizing on mismatches.
  • Ernest: “Cat... has a very low NBA IQ... they consistently put smaller people on him... he should dominate and he doesn’t.”
• Hahn: “There’s something missing with Cat and being aggressive. When he has a 6’5” dude on him... he doesn’t have that mentality. I can’t understand why, no one can.”

Gilbert in the Truck

• Chimes in with similar Cat skepticism, suggesting he needs a “smaller market” to feel bigger: “If I was that big, man, I’d be dunking over all them dudes… He’s too mild mannered.”

Host’s Response

• Hahn and Rosenberg defend Towns’ character but echo frustration with his tentativeness:
  • Hahn: “If it’s not working with Cat, it’s not because he’s a me-guy. That is not what this is. ...Maybe it’s because he’s not enough of a me-guy.” (23:00)
  • Calls for more assertiveness: “You’re an all-NBA player, six-time All-Star, probably four-time after this year. ...How about instead of focusing on how can I fit in to help us win, how about how can I make sure I’m not the reason why we lose?”

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5. The NFL "Binge" – Mock Drafts and QB Debates (27:12 - 39:40)

A. “NFL Binge” Debuts: Jets Detours and Quarterback Search

• Anthony Pucic joins for an extended segment on the latest Matt Miller mock draft and QB prospect Ty Simpson’s draft fate.
• Lighthearted banter about Anthony’s role (“He’s my friend!”) before diving into draft mechanics.

B. Analysis of Mock Draft Developments

• NY Jets take an edge rusher and receiver in round one and nab Ty Simpson, Alabama QB, as the 33rd pick:
  • Rosenberg: “If this is reality, that’s exactly where you want to take him, isn’t it?” (33:22)
  • Hahn: “If you get him in round two...you can have Geno Smith bridge the gap.... The last thing you want them doing is forcing the quarterback pick.”
• They discuss pitfalls of “outside the building” pressure to start rookie QBs, and compare to Jalen Hurts’ trajectory.
  • Hahn: “If you take a quarterback that isn’t ready that high, too many forces tell you he has to play and he doesn’t have to.”

C. QB Market Run-Down

• Where will other QBs land? Penn State’s Drew Aller to the Rams (if McVay likes him, “I change my opinion”) and Georgia’s Carson Beck projected as a third-rounder.

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6. Malachi Smith Interview: The Bronx, St. Raymond, and an Iconic Shot (43:47 – 52:55)

A. Setting the Scene

• Malachi Smith, redshirt senior guard for UConn and Bronx native, joins after UConn’s buzzer-beater win over Duke to clinch a Final Four spot.
• Hahn: “Congratulations. A trip to the Final Four... What was going through your mind in that moment?” (44:56)

B. The Final Minute: In His Words

• Malachi Smith: “With a minute left, I was on the bench... I told myself in my head, ‘Man, I went out fighting. I had a great career.’ And then coach put me back in. We just wanted to get something up on the rim. Burling pulled it from half... I sprinted and jumped on him. That was probably the happiest I’ve ever been.” (45:44)
• On The Shot: “I’ve seen him make those shots [in practice]. He’s really a flamethrower. …[He] just missed four straight, then hit probably the biggest shot of his career.” (46:54)

C. Viral Moments and Team Resilience

• The hosts play him the Duke radio call, in which the opposing announcer accuses him of running off the bench (“That should be a technical”).
  • Smith laughs: “No, I was on the court.”
• Smith recounts UConn's never-say-die attitude: “We’ve been in multiple high-energy, high-intensity games... at halftime, the coaches told us the right words at the right time... one war at a time, each possession.” (49:49)
• What’s next? “Everything just boosted up... I’m still shocked we won. I’m just gonna enjoy the moment... but tomorrow, make sure we’re locked in.” (50:38)

D. Bronx Roots and Sandwich Debate

• Hahn: “You’re from the Bronx. What’s your bodega or cart breakfast order?” (51:01)
• Smith: “Bacon and egg. I don’t eat cheese.”
• Rosenberg & Hahn: Both share they also don’t always go for cheese—solidarity ensues.

E. Closing Words

• Smith is savoring every moment, not feeling nervous: “Nothing but joy and excitement… We’re just ready to win these next two games.”
• Hahn: “Malachi Smith is the kind of story why you love the tournament so much. …He was part of winning tournament games as a starter and made sure he was the first one with that hug for when the shot went down.” (53:11)

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• Rosenberg, on NYPD-FDNY hockey brawl: “Who breaks up a fight when there’s already cops on the ice?” (01:47)
• Hahn, on SGA: “Name the player who has that skill set... struggling to score in other ways, and they find a way to grab 10 or 15 or 20 points from the line...” (08:01)
• Guest Analyst (Knicks): “We spent so much energy worrying about the officials. They had more turnovers... the officials had nothing to do with that.” (10:58)
• Malachi Smith: “When he made [the shot], I just sprinted over and jumped on him. That was probably the happiest I’ve ever been.” (45:44)
• Malachi Smith: “I just don’t eat cheese. I just don’t like the texture.” (51:28)
• Hahn: “Malachi Smith is the kind of story why you love the tournament so much...” (53:11)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:44 – FDNY-NYPD Hockey Brawl
• 04:14 – “Drop-off” soundboard tournament updates
• 05:39 – 16:57 – Knicks/Thunder Referee Debate, SGA, entertainment value of NBA stars
• 18:37 – 24:54 – Knicks callers, Karl-Anthony Towns: Strength, psyche, and assertiveness
• 27:12 – 39:40 – NFL Mock Draft deep dive, Jets, Ty Simpson, QB philosophy
• 43:47 – 52:55 – Malachi Smith on UConn’s Final Four-clinching win, Bronx pride, team resilience, and breakfast orders

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Takeaways

• The hosts blend humor, candor, and real basketball analysis, offering both the casual fan and the serious observer a great slice of New York sports radio.
• They provide insightful commentary on evolving NBA play styles and what’s gained/lost for the league, and tackle fan frustrations over team stars like Karl-Anthony Towns.
• The highlight interview with Malachi Smith captures the joy and unpredictability of March Madness and spotlights the unique personal stories that make college tournaments electric.

Recommended for:
Anyone who loves high-energy New York sports talk, insightful NBA analysis, NFL draft obsessiveness, or the magic of March Madness.

Transcript

[Podcast Promo Announcer]

The world moves fast. Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create and summarize so you can cut through clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn [e-mail] M365 copilot this is the

[Don Hahn]

Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Don Hahn]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

403 in the big city with Peter Rosenberg. I'm Alan Hahn. Don McGregor off today. We're back with us tomorrow. Rangers, Devil's Tilt one more time in the regular season at the Garden tomorrow night.

[Alan Hahn]

I think this is finally the one Don's calling. Right? This is the first one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, that's a good point. They've all been national.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Because Don and Kenny talked about that. Remember that they wouldn't see each other.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

To the end of the year. So we're finally going to get it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So yesterday, among all the things that were going on yesterday was the annual 52nd annual FDNY versus NYP hockey game at UBS.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh yeah, you brought this up.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, Line brawl. Hilarious.

[Alan Hahn]

I gotta say.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Just like the highlights from this thing. It was three, two game. It was actually a great like an entertaining game as far as close game PD wins. They, I think they hadn't won in a while so it was a big deal for them to get a dub but like just old school 70s Broad street bullies hockey.

[Alan Hahn]

And what followed was an incredible 3 minute long bench clearing brawl.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, that was after the final buzzer. Like here's the thing. Who breaks up a fight when there's already cops on the ice? Like imagine officiating this game. What do you do? It's unreal. So like, but it's, there's a lot of just it's such a huge rivalry, great passion between how, how good are

[Alan Hahn]

the other players who play pretty good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They got a couple of guys that played like maybe college or you know, like play a little bit. So you get some guys that are really good and then the rest is, you know, beer league guys that just can skate, can play, you know, but a lot of them ready to drop the gloves at any moment. So it's quite an atmosphere.

[Alan Hahn]

What a crazy thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Callie went with her, with her friends, the Fantastic Four. They all went as one of the dads Was a detective. So he. He took them, right? And the fights start and the girls are just like screaming. They love it, going crazy. This is awesome family entertainment.

[Alan Hahn]

Most of this fight, I'm watching it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, it's a lot of. It's for show.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's a lot of that.

[Alan Hahn]

And then there's a couple people are really getting into it. Most everyone's standing around, like a real fight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know what it's about, right? There's some guys even laughing because they know each other, you know, like. But there's those guys who are just hair trigger ready to go. And as long as there's one of those guys on both sides, that's all you need. Everybody else pairs up. Maybe one or two guys decide to throw. Maybe somebody just knows, like, the boys want to see me get into one. So, you know, you tell another guy, like, you want to go, because if I don't, my guys are going to be killing me for not getting into a fight today. All right, let's go. You know, like, it's stuff like that, but I just laugh because it's like, who's policing the police out here? But even, like the referees just stood there just going like, oh, my God, like, I'm breaking this up. Just go until he gets tired. First guy that throws up, you get the penalty.

[Alan Hahn]

Right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

800-919-3776. NFL binge. Bottom of the hour. The latest mock and where Ty Simpson might go and where I saw on this one. Peter, I like it. What do you mean, I like it?

[Alan Hahn]

Where do you see him?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not going to say it until we get to the bing.

[Alan Hahn]

The binge.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Saving it for binge o'. Clock.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Binge o', clock, which is, of course, 4:30. Also hear from John Harbaugh as well.

[Alan Hahn]

Harbaugh.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Harbaugh. How we doing? By the way, how's Harbaugh doing against Jerich Jeter?

[Alan Hahn]

It's close.

[Anthony Pucic]

Close.

[Alan Hahn]

Harbaugh and Jerich Jeter, close matchup.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right. I just want to be in the game. Never know could have a Yukon finish. There are.

[Alan Hahn]

There are a couple of close ones early on that surprised me. Harbaugh's up 5 on Jerich Jeter. I'm surprised Jerrick Jeter's hanging that tough.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

Now here's the one that upsets me. Anthony Filth bag from Don, which is a good drop.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

Is up 51.8 to 48.2 over Southern Allen.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's tight.

[Alan Hahn]

Very tight.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now, I didn't think Southern Allen was that good.

[Alan Hahn]

It's so classy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's not that bad.

[Alan Hahn]

You didn't think it was that good, but you knew it wasn't that bad. But yeah. So don's all right. You're a sex star. Filth bag is pretty great. It's kind of underrated great just because

[Peter Rosenberg]

he just the way he delivers it.

[Alan Hahn]

But I'll tell you what. Anthony's troubling sound, it's up big.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I have a feeling just to embarrass him. People are going to make it win, by the way.

[Alan Hahn]

Anthony could die. Anthony, how many your drops are left for the final four? I mean, potentially still.

[Anthony Pucic]

I'm not sure.

[Alan Hahn]

Is it just. You suck Pusick and your weird.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I love that one.

[Anthony Pucic]

That's my favorite one.

[Alan Hahn]

What about is. Hey, guys, still alive?

[Anthony Pucic]

No, I lost last week.

[Alan Hahn]

Hey, guys. Lost. Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Too bad. Too zesty. Anthony zesty.

[Alan Hahn]

Anthony's out.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That was a good one.

[Alan Hahn]

But you suck Pusick. Ironically still in business.

[Anthony Pucic]

That should win.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Who didn't win last night? Where The Knicks were talking about them right now. And as I mentioned, something happened last night that seems to be an occurring issue with this team. It's nothing new to this year, of course, because it's something that this group tends to have. Tends to be doing for the last couple of years, and that is complaining referees about fouls. You went into the game knowing the Thunder. Let me just make this clear. The Thunder are one of these teams. They are maddening to play against.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They get every call and they complain about the few they don't like. They're that team that you're like, really, dude? Really? You're gonna complain. I know about. About not getting. You're gonna sound like. About being called for a foul.

[Alan Hahn]

Are they the Duke of the NBA?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, they're very Duke. Ish. They got they.

[Alan Hahn]

Are they the Duke of the NBA?

[Peter Rosenberg]

They kind of are kind of becoming that right where they're really good and you got to just tip your cap. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

By the way, like, SGA and Chet Holmgren, like, there's a lot of nozzle. Not nozzle, but like, I know Chet's a Gonzaga guy, but you can't. You can't. You can't picture him at Duke also.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. He gives Duke.

[Alan Hahn]

And SGA is Canadian, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. What does that mean? Could be Duke. Could be a both blue, red.

[Alan Hahn]

You get the idea.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no, no.

[Alan Hahn]

Whatever. It's fine. My point is. It's fine.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's not. It's not, though.

[Alan Hahn]

SGA is not your typical cool NBA point. Guard. He's got a different. He's got a different kind of tude because he's Canadian.

[Anthony Pucic]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

And what I'm saying is I could see that meshing into Duke Ness, is what I'm saying.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Duke Ness.

[Alan Hahn]

But a lot of fouls and a lot of complaining feels very Duke.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They are that team that is easy to hate when you're not a fan. If you're a fan of them, you love.

[Alan Hahn]

Course, that's 18,000 people. It's the people there every night. That's who. I mean, I do.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I wonder how big their overall base is. I don't know. But they're becoming that team that. It's just. You have to be perfect against them. But they are very frustrating. So, you know already SJ gets calls, and if he's not shooting well, he will go into martial arts mode where he's just hand. You know, he just all of a sudden his arms are moving and like,

[Alan Hahn]

he's going to the stripe is what you're saying.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I'm going to get to the free throw line come hella high water.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, he only had, like, that's what he's supposed to do before you cast dispersions. He was only 13 for 16 from the stripe loss.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Only 16.

[Alan Hahn]

Just a little sixteener.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's all. He had only 28. 28 free throws in the last two games. But you got to tip your cap because he's really good at it.

[Alan Hahn]

So. And you know what a gift it is. This is rarefied air, though. I dare you to name the player who has that skill set, meaning they're. They're struggling to score in other ways, and they find a way to grab 10 or 15 or 20 points from the line. You're talking about. When you think about the guys who do that, they're all some of the greatest players who ever lived. That's who does it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's understanding the game and be able to control it. Because you play the game is played at your pace. You don't play at the game space.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, the. Oh. So shots aren't falling. Cool.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right.

[Alan Hahn]

I got to adjust. You're going to follow me?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that's what's going to happen. What else can I do? All right. I got this guy guarding me. Oh, yeah, I'll get him.

[Alan Hahn]

That'll be a fun.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Richard.

[Alan Hahn]

Richard, Spike, whoever's out there, who is the player you can think of who wasn't a great player but was able to dictate tons of free throws?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because I tend to Adrian Dantley.

[Alan Hahn]

But he was a pretty great player. But he was an all star. That's a really great player.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He drew fouls. Like, it was maddening how he. You couldn't help but foul him. He just had a way where you're like, again, like the guy lived at the free throw line.

[Alan Hahn]

But again, he's. Is daily a Hall of Famer.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't think so. He's. He'd be born. Yeah, he really good. He's one of the great. He didn't make the hall of Famer.

[Alan Hahn]

He's a Hall of Famer.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's a great, great score.

[Alan Hahn]

That's AD to you and me, but that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But. But there's a guy that you know in history that you could think of that could just get free throws, and that would be half of his scoring every night. Easy way to get the 20.

[Alan Hahn]

But they're obviously. Obviously we also. He didn't do it. SGA is. It's becoming like a real part of his game. But guys, you saw Kobe had nights like that. Jordan and nights like that. Steph has nights like that. The guys who.

[Peter Rosenberg]

These just know scores, they know how to do it, keep you off balance. That's what he does. So. But the Knicks, their. Their pension is when this is happening against them, they don't stop with the officials. And that Towns got called for. They reviewed it. He got called because his hand went down, hit Chet in the face. And they called him for the offensive foul, taking away what would have been a foul because he got mugged. And he's just like. So he's complaining because every time he goes to the basket, he screams foul. Because they do. He is played physically. You know, you get it. Like, Hart spends a lot of time talking to the officials. You get that bench talking to the officials. Brown never had a tech until this month.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And the first tech he had was against the Thunder at the Garden when he ran out on the court and got in a ref's face because he felt like, what you're calling for that guy. You're not calling for my guy, meaning Brunson. And then in this game, same thing, he ran onto the court, got in the ref's face again and just said, what you just called. You didn't call down here. And he's trying to make the. Make the case that you're falling for this guy's tricks and it's happening to us, but you're not seeing it on this end. And so that's twice now he's gotten a tech, and both games were against the Thunder. After the game, he admitted that part of the Nick problem was focusing so much on the officiation.

[Guest Analyst]

We spent so much energy worrying about the officials. We had more turnovers than them. They had more points off our turnovers. They had more fast break points. They had more second chance points, and the officials had nothing to do with that. That's us boxing out. That's us getting back in transition. You know, that's us taking care of basketball. Those are things that you have to do on the road versus a really good team if you want to win.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So he's admitting it. Right. But this is also him talking about what makes the Thunder so difficult to defend.

[Guest Analyst]

His ability to control his body. His body control is amazing. Not only that, he knows when to attack, how to attack, and who to attack. And then he still has the awareness of where everybody is on the floor. When he goes into his shot, he can. He does a fantastic job of contorting his body, and if he feels any contact at all, he knows how to twitch his body or whatever to. It's just the gamesmanship to get the call. So I take my hat off to him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Does that sound like a compliment or a backhanded compliment?

[Alan Hahn]

Backhanded, I would say. What do you think? Fully backhand.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, he's giving him credit, but yet also pointing out how he does things to fool the officiating.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what everyone. This is. This has been so the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The. Remember this as a conversation up until maybe the last 10 years, the manipulation of officiating. I mean, it's always been players. His flopping wasn't a thing until about 10 years ago. Then it became rampant.

[Malachi Smith]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And that was maybe 15, because that was a lot of, like, the ginobly stuff. And then other people started doing it, and then some of the stars started doing. Remember, LeBron was doing it for a while, which was embarrassing. He earned that nickname La Flop.

[Alan Hahn]

Not a great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not a great one. And then he realized, I don't want this as my legacy, so he stopped doing it. But it was a thing for a while, and now it's not as much. But what it's become, though, is learning how to fool the officials. And they keep changing rules as they go. When they find out, okay, this guy's doing this and he's fooling officials, we got to take it away. Which is why Harden doesn't get all the calls he used to get. Brunson doesn't get all the calls he used to get, and now it's like sga. Has been an mvp, might win two in a row here. And I'm wondering, will the league watch this and say, okay, we've got to stop this. Tell me that that's fun to watch. Versus Victor Wembanyama, who's, I think a show. He's fun to watch is Shea Gilgis Alexander. Fun to watch.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't love watching him play the way I love, you know, some of the other most exciting players in the game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Jaylen Brown, that's your guy. Fun. Fun to watch him play. So hard, physical both ends and the competitive.

[Alan Hahn]

His style of offense is just fun.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Can do a lot of different things.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not to say every night he's great. He does. Everybody has an off night. But when he's on fun, Shay is like, just snakes around and like. Like it's. It's like you can't take away the talent, but there's just something about it. Are you, like, watching it with like your jaw drop? Like, what a breathtaking player.

[Alan Hahn]

No. When you look at the top of the scoring leaders in the league, he Luca breathtaking.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So Luca shot. His shot making is ridiculous.

[Alan Hahn]

Luka's a lot of fun now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's a flopper a bit too.

[Alan Hahn]

He is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And he complains and a whiner too much.

[Alan Hahn]

But in all fairness, he's European. It's built in. It's part of the game. No, come on. This.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, there's a lot of that.

[Alan Hahn]

That's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, again, that's what the real Euro step is. Flopping was introduced into the league when there's a lot more international players were

[Alan Hahn]

in the league, which soccer culture.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Not surprising.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not surprising.

[Alan Hahn]

Luca. So the top five are Luca, SGA and Edwards. Of course, he's breath. He's Brett, as fun as anyone to watch. Tyrese Maxey, fast as hell.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's fun to watch.

[Alan Hahn]

And Jaylen Brown. Those are your top five players in the league right now offensively.

[Peter Rosenberg]

See, like, it's not like people think, oh, you just hate on him and all that stuff. And I just keep shaking my head like, this is not hate. It's 25 years of watching basketball at the professional level. It's what I've done. I have seen players trying to think of the last certain players that you're like, yeah, he's got a ton of skill and he's really good, but do I want to pay to watch him play? I'm trying to think I can name more. I can name many players ahead of him that I would rather pay to watch play. Now, can you Win a championship with him proven. Yes, he can. So you can't take that away from him. He's going to be a Hall of Famer. He's going to be a Hall of Famer, but it's no question. It doesn't mean that what he's doing is great for the game. Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, I guess it's about the influence. If it ends up being that, it leads to a lot more player. A lot more players who do this in particular. But remember, I've said this before, and I think you weren't. I don't think you disagreed with me. As much as I love him, I don't think Steph has been good for the game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, we know why that is.

[Alan Hahn]

Because of the copycat.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's because now he personally, the way

[Alan Hahn]

he plays is amazing. I don't need everyone else trying to do Steph Curry.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You can't do it, and I'll tell you why. Because he looks like he's small. He's 6 3.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's not small for. In real life.

[Alan Hahn]

No, he's not five in that world.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He looks small. He has a baby face. And so what he's doing looks relatable. Like, I can do that.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I can, Chuck.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I could do that. And so there's a lot of copying that because, let's be honest, you watch Michael Jordan play. Nobody said, I can do that. No, it was like, holy crap, hanging in the air. When you watched Shaq, you didn't say, I can do that. Of course you can. Maybe on a Nerf hoop.

[Alan Hahn]

But by the way, Bird, Magic, none of them looked like, I could do that. No, they were all like. Larry and Magic were six, nine each. Okay. Doing things with their hands. You're like, humans can't do that. Steph looks like a little kid who all of a sudden just Chucks went

[Peter Rosenberg]

on the court and just started, like, running around. Nobody could catch him. And he can make these incredible shots.

[Alan Hahn]

The one who was like that also looked fun. That made people believe they could do it, even though he's. I would say maybe among the five greatest athletes to have ever played on the court was Allen Iverson.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

People thought, oh, he's small. I could do that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, you can't.

[Alan Hahn]

He could also throw the ball 75 yards. You can't do what he did.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He saw what he did. Yeah. And it's really amazing.

[Alan Hahn]

He's not like you, I promise.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah. Lots of calls to get to. We're gonna get to those momentarily. 800 now. 1, 9, 3 7, 7, 6. When I tell you about Ring's End, though, because.

[Alan Hahn]

Go ahead.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, I've been talking about the home improvements we have coming up at the house this spring. They're coming later this week to measure. That's exciting when they come to measure, you know, it's real now, you know, okay, they're measuring. That means they're gonna, they're gonna get all the product I need, which is we're replacing some old windows and we're adding a nice big picture window as well. So we're fired up for this to do it. Yes. We are partnering with Rings N. Why? Rings end because they work with pro contractors who build and remodel for a living. The pros trust them, so I trust them and you can too. They have premium brands, not just in windows. They have doors, decking, paint, lumber, kitchens. You know, all the stuff you need to remodel, to update, to refresh your home. Built to last. High end product lines that contractors rely on because they do it right, they don't do it over. Now. They're not a national chain. See, Ring's End, they have regional expertise with eight full service lumber yards in Connecticut and Westchester county. And they also have 12 freestanding paint centers as well. Ring's End is family owned and operated since 1902. Peter. That's 124 years in business.

[Alan Hahn]

Good lord.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's right. They have deep northeast roots supporting local builders and communities. And if you can't make it to a store, here's what you do. Just shop [e-mail] that's ringsend.com 800-919-3776 all right, let's go to Earnest in Brooklyn on the cat conversation with the Knicks. Go ahead. Ernest.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, how you doing? I just want to say, yeah, I'm a fake fan. I'm a Nets fan. But when my Nets get eliminated, I'm a New York fan. So I do root for the Knicks. My problem is I'm, I'm, I'm sorry. I don't think they can get past Detroit. And I'm gonna say like this cat, I'm not a fan of him. To me, he has a very low NBA IQ because they consistently put smaller people on him, which he should dominate and he doesn't. And at the same time, okc when they play defense, they play defense from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. And they play aggressive, but they don't foul. They, they play defense in the right way. And if you watch them a couple of games, they Do. Now, on the Knicks, we have Brunson, who's a bad defender. Cat is a bad defender. He's. He's offensive talent, but he can't stop nobody. He's soft. I'm sorry. He's soft.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Caller/Listener]

Well, what do you think?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I, like, I understand what you're saying about when you have a smaller player on you. I don't. I don't deny that you've seen Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony. How many guys have tried to pull him aside and talk to him and say, oh, Shaq even did it. Like, you need to dominate out there every single game. You've got to want to dominate. You got to demand the ball. And it's. I don't know what it is. He doesn't seem to have that in him where he does that. Now, you could say what you want about bad defenders. The Knicks are a top five defense in the league, so they find a way even with these two guys that everybody claims. Bad defender Jalen Brunson figures it out by taking charges. Townsend has gotten a lot better in the second half of the season. Defensively, way more engaged. And his rebounding is a huge part of defense because those rebounds are stops. Get the rebound, you move down the other end of the floor, the stop is over with. So they still can be effective. But I do agree that there's something missing with Cat when it comes to being aggressive. That mentality of wanting to dominate. Like, guys, I got a six, five dude on me. Everybody get the hell out of the way. Give me the ball. Let me cook. Let me work. And you guys get open. If they come double, I'm going to find you. Like, it just doesn't seem to happen. I can't understand why no one can. Gilbert, in the truck. Gilbert, you're up next.

[Alan Hahn]

Big Gilbert,

[Peter Rosenberg]

What's up, yo?

[Caller/Listener]

But he's not, so I'll drop a little drink for his name. Yo, Alan, man. Well, I don't know what it is. The boy is big. He can grab his rebounds. It look like they fall right in

[Malachi Smith]

his hand Sometimes that's position.

[Caller/Listener]

But there's something about him that. His coordination is not what it should be. Shaq's feet were bigger. And you could ask Jacob. He did the analysis. Okay. He needs somebody to teach him some. Some sound bars, some. Some jumbo moves, something, man. I mean, come on, man. If I was that big, man, I'd be ducking over all them dudes. I don't care if you proudly take my head over Rip off my Arm. But you're gonna have like everybody that's calling in. It's like, damn, I don't understand it and all. I could put my finger on that. He's too mild mannered. He needs to be on a team like Milwaukee. He needs to be on a team that's, you know, smaller market so he could feel big about himself. Because, bro, he's not doing it here, man.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't, I don't agree with you though, that it's about him feeling big. Big. I, I don't, I don't think it's like ego related. I really don't like, if anything, if you don't think he's big enough for the moments here. I think that's a fair enough conversation. I really. Alan, you're up. I never have met the man. Oh, no. Years ago. I haven't met him since he was a kid.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Cat. Yeah, yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

You're up close and personal.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sweetheart of a human being.

[Alan Hahn]

He does not give me bad dude vibes at all.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's not.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't think it's an ego thing at all.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He couldn't be a bad guy if he tried.

[Alan Hahn]

It's not, it's not the typical. But it doesn't. You want to. People want to. People get lazy and want to attribute the like, oh, this is what athletes are.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Nah, man.

[Alan Hahn]

If it's not working with Cat, it's not because he's a me guy. That is not what this is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, it's. Maybe it's because he's not enough of a me guy.

[Alan Hahn]

It may be more that now every

[Peter Rosenberg]

guy in this league has an ego. Like, every guy's got an ego. So I'm not even going to pretend like though he's egoless. No, there's an ego there.

[Alan Hahn]

Sure.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Question. What happens though is I think for him, it's wanting so bad to be like, I don't want to be the guy that looks like he's just being selfish because there were times he's done that and he gets called out for it. I think he hates that stuff. But I do think that there has to be a part of him that at some point, and you see it every now and then, but there has to be a part of him at some point goes, all right, I want to be the reason why we win. Because that's, that's his quote. I'm trying to find how I can, what role I can play to help us win. Somebody needs to say, you know what you don't want to do, don't be the reason why they lose, right? Like how about be motivated by that I don't like instead of let me find my place in helping us win. You're an all NBA player, six time all star, three time all NBA, probably four time after this year averaging a double double, more double doubles in the NBA. If anyone anyone in the league, no one has more double doubles than him. He is second in the league and rebounding. And there are superstar former players, guys with brand names that go up to him and are like begging him, like what are you doing man? Begging him to take over. So maybe that's what needs to be put in his head. How about instead of focusing on how can I fit in to help us win, how about how can I make sure I'm not the reason why we lose? Maybe that's the motivation. He's I don't know. But with two weeks to go before the playoffs, something needs to be figured out here because he's had some good games. But there's games like the first half last night. There's games like the first half in Charlotte where he disappears and lets himself disappear. That can't happen.

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[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. This is.

[Alan Hahn]

We're gonna rub football all over ourselves today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I did consume a lot of football back in the day. Pre kids in my underwear.

[Don Hahn]

The NFL binge.

[Anthony Pucic]

You watch every game.

[Alan Hahn]

Anybody are you watching? Oh, like you dream about, folks. A little NFL binge. So to do it, we bring in my good friend Anthony Pucic.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Good friend.

[Anthony Pucic]

Thank you, Peter.

[Alan Hahn]

I think so.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Good friend.

[Alan Hahn]

What am I of my best friend? Wait, am I.

[Caller/Listener]

Hold on.

[Alan Hahn]

Am I overstating it or understating it?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Friend.

[Alan Hahn]

You don't consider work colleague? I consider Anthony and I to be more than work colleagues. Yeah, I consider him a friend.

[Anthony Pucic]

What's that? What's the don drop? He's my friend.

[Alan Hahn]

He's my friend.

[Anthony Pucic]

He's my friend.

[Alan Hahn]

He my friend. That's how I feel. Exactly.

[Anthony Pucic]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

What do you got for us today?

[Anthony Pucic]

Oh, well, listen, we start with breaking news.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, this is me.

[Anthony Pucic]

This is for your race. It's jets related. Alan's gonna be crushed.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Crushed.

[Anthony Pucic]

Everybody's gonna remember this moment as I'm trying to get. Get everything panned right on. It's not working very well right now. We're gonna try.

[Alan Hahn]

Here we go.

[Anthony Pucic]

We're gonna try. Oh, you're just gonna see half my head, and it's fine. I can't. I can't fix it on my effort.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There you go. You look great.

[Anthony Pucic]

Chris Trevler.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. Is retiring Strip sanity.

[Anthony Pucic]

Now, remember, everybody can laugh.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We love stripper.

[Anthony Pucic]

And Ray Dinahan, I think, is still in this building because he's been helping me with a lot of technical issues

[Alan Hahn]

that we've had cloud show.

[Anthony Pucic]

Me and him were sitting in the old studios watching that abomination of a Thursday night when the fans were chanting Chris Traveler.

[Marriott Bonvoy Announcer]

Never mind.

[Anthony Pucic]

Once he got in.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, he got in. He had One run.

[Anthony Pucic]

One run.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We went crazy. Oh. It was poor, it was miserable. Zach and Emma came with me.

[Alan Hahn]

I remember where I was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He comes in, we're all going crazy. Yeah. And then he throws one. We're like, oh, God, no, no. Never throw a football.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm gonna tell you something about Chris Travel. You want to say my Chris Traveler.

[Anthony Pucic]

That's a strange poll. Yeah. Well, listen, he didn't tweet it. I wouldn't have said anything.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, what do you.

[Anthony Pucic]

Had to do it. I had to do it.

[Alan Hahn]

No. He is forever gonna be a strange, strange bull dude. He was. He had no business being on that team. He had no guys playing in a game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

How dare you? That's Trev Sanity to you. And big stuff. Until he threw a football and we heard it quack.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You literally get absolute duck. Yeah.

[Anthony Pucic]

And Rich said he did have a nice. He did have a nice run in the cfl, which is true. He did have a nice run in the cfl. Just the jet run. Didn't we all? Much like that whole season was a little bit of a mess.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, all right.

[Anthony Pucic]

There's too many things to get to. We have Malachi Smith coming up from UConn at 4:45.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You got plenty of time.

[Anthony Pucic]

There's so much to do.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right.

[Anthony Pucic]

So little time to do it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Prioritize.

[Anthony Pucic]

And I think the thing that Alan is most interested in, and, Peter, I think you will be as well, is that we're now getting into the fun part of the NFL mock drafts. Matt Miller didn't just drop mock draft. 2.0, 2.5, 3.0. No, no, no, no.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Which one was this?

[Anthony Pucic]

Mac Miller's.

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Mac Miller.

[Anthony Pucic]

Mac Miller. Matt Miller. Mack was involved. You don't know. You don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

This better be a Steelers story.

[Anthony Pucic]

Matt Miller. Okay, full mock draft.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Anthony Pucic]

Rounds one through. I'm going to read every pick right now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, please, we don't have time.

[Anthony Pucic]

Okay. Well, he released it this morning. You can catch on ESPN.com Matt Miller's mock draft, rounds one through seven. We don't have to get very far to keep it interesting for us. Obviously, with the number one pick, the Raiders select Fernando Mendoza at number two. Your New York Jets. Allen, take Arvell Reese the edge out of Ohio State. Okay. Jeremiah Love goes to Tennessee at 4. So the Giants don't get him, they get Caleb Downs at Ohio State as safety.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Safety. Yep.

[Anthony Pucic]

Peter, your Washington commander.

[Alan Hahn]

Give it to me.

[Guest Analyst]

Give it to me.

[Anthony Pucic]

Take Monsoon Delane, the cornerback out of Louis, out of lsu. I was gonna Say Louisiana State University.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Nobody says that, Monsieur.

[Anthony Pucic]

That doesn't do anything for you, does it?

[Peter Rosenberg]

By the way, I'm gonna need that from Peter. That drop.

[Alan Hahn]

Give it to me. Yeah, I didn't lie.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't.

[Alan Hahn]

A corner doesn't. That's not what I want right now.

[Anthony Pucic]

Okay, but it's useful.

[Alan Hahn]

I mean, listen, it's always useful.

[Anthony Pucic]

At 16, from Indianapolis, the New York jets select Jordan Tyson, wide receiver out of Arizona State. No Ty Simpson off the board yet. And the jets don't take him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right, so the Rams didn't. He doesn't have him going to the Rams at 13.

[Anthony Pucic]

He does not have him going to

[Peter Rosenberg]

the Rams at 16. Take another Ohio State wide receiver. Because that worked out well the first time.

[Anthony Pucic]

Arizona State.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, I think he said Ohio State.

[Anthony Pucic]

I probably did. I don't know what's going on today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Did I hear Ohio State v. V? Okay, Arizona State. Either way, a wide receiver.

[Anthony Pucic]

Jordan State School, Arizona State.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Anthony Pucic]

Wide receiver.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right. All right, so a wide receiver.

[Anthony Pucic]

Okay, the next option would be Pittsburgh, right, for Ty Simpson.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Anthony Pucic]

They don't take him. They take Kaden Proctor, the OT out of Alabama.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Proctor, okay.

[Anthony Pucic]

Cleveland Browns, maybe. Let's just, you know, for fun. They do not take him either. Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right, so no one that wants a quarterback wants him.

[Anthony Pucic]

The Miami Dolphins at 30, they do not need a quarterback. Okay, so we reach round two. Round two with the 33rd pick in the NFL draft. New York jets select Ty Simpson, Quarterback, Alabama, do you hate.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now, if Dom were here, it would be a great debate.

[Anthony Pucic]

He'd say this is Yo, Yo. And he would have stopped me immediately, but go on.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He would have.

[Anthony Pucic]

Yeah, probably.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, he's not here, so he can't say it. Yeah, but I would want to engage.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because I'm.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, I'm good.

[Anthony Pucic]

No, I'm good.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I'm good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why are we still doing.

[Anthony Pucic]

Why don't I have a say? Why don't I have a say? Why are we still doing the draft?

[Alan Hahn]

Right. And then the only thing that would be worse is if you then played like a minute and ten second clip from Mel to send him.

[Anthony Pucic]

Matt, what made you think about taking Tyson?

[Peter Rosenberg]

It would have to be a minute 10, because that extra 10, you know, it sends him off.

[Guest Analyst]

Oh, yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If it was 58 seconds, he might survive. Be. Okay, that minute 10. Forget it. No, here's the question, though, is just in reality, if. If this is. If. If Mac Miller or Matt, God bless. Is pacing this off reality of things, he's here. Whatever it is. If this is reality, that's exactly where you want to take him, isn't it? Isn't it?

[Alan Hahn]

No. Yeah.

[Anthony Pucic]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

That's exactly.

[Anthony Pucic]

Anyone you don't get the. You don't get the fifth year option, but don't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you're also like if he's not a first round grade getting him in round two, he's a day two pack.

[Anthony Pucic]

You get who some believe is the best defensive player in the draft in arvl Reese.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Anthony Pucic]

You get a wide receiver in a class that is deep at wide receiver and they think that there could be a lot of good talent there to be number two to Garrett Wilson.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Get measurables. You like to give me six, four, six, five.

[Anthony Pucic]

And we heard on an interview with NFL Network earlier in this weekend Geno Smith is the quarterback for Aaron Glenn. That is his starting quarterback. He said it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Anthony Pucic]

So Geno's going to be the guy. But you'll have Reese, you'll have Tyson. I think we do have Gino. Gino. We do have Glenn saying that about Geno. Let's hear it.

[John Harbaugh]

It means to have a bona fide starter come in and lead this offense to where it needs to go. Listen, he's done it a couple of years. I mean those years in Seattle when he was comeback player of the year man, he was up for MVP early in the season. There's no doubt in my mind that we brought a competent starter here in this team. I look forward to him getting in the building.

[Anthony Pucic]

So just to be clear, Geno Smith is the starting quarterback.

[John Harbaugh]

No doubt about it. He's our guy.

[Anthony Pucic]

He's our guy. Darren Muji spoke today. How was your meeting with Ty Simpson by the way?

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was good. It was a good visit with Ty. Really enjoyed the time down there.

[Anthony Pucic]

We went to to dinner and had

[Peter Rosenberg]

a had a workout in the morning with him. It was good.

[Anthony Pucic]

Okay. Doesn't tell us a whole lot but

[Peter Rosenberg]

which is exactly what I want my GM doing.

[Anthony Pucic]

You do essentially what the Giants did almost on steroids because you get your two first round, first round picks. You don't take the quarterback. You let him fall all the way to you at 33 still get him and keep all your precious assets in the 2027 draft that you'd want to keep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now what's the latest a team is picking that could take a quarterback in the first round?

[Anthony Pucic]

Well, we named where I think I felt like we named the teams that could.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The Steelers at 21, 21 is probably the one area you'd want to watch. They don't. They don't know what they're doing at quarterback still. Right. Aaron Rodgers. That's right. Decided.

[Anthony Pucic]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So is that the one team you got to worry about? Remember the Giants jumped back into the first round just to get the guy they wanted using some draft capital.

[Caller/Listener]

Yep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So would you look, I need to do that.

[Anthony Pucic]

I don't think the Niners are doing it. I don't think the Bills are now again. But as you pointed out, is a team going to then trade up do the Cardinals? Because that was what the mocks I believe was either. Mel doesn't really do the trades, but one of the mocks that came out might have even been Matt said, I'm going to have the Cardinals trade up back into the first round do what the Giants did. They get.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's what I would. That's the only thing I would watch that and see. They might say, you know what, he's not worth that on our board. We can get another quarterback later on of some of the other guys that are going to be available that could go day two.

[Alan Hahn]

So it you only the only way you trade back any trade back into a round to try to get a quarterback is that would require a really true belief.

[Anthony Pucic]

And you want that fifth round, the fifth year option as well. You don't get the fifth year option if he's not the first rounder.

[Alan Hahn]

Correct. So that requires that belief that you think it's worth it. Because we want that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Jalen Hurts was a second round guy.

[Alan Hahn]

So do you believe. So they would have to decide between now and then that they believe that now it's interesting if you compare that with the Glenn audio of saying with confidence Gino is our guy. That that that may mean to them we want to build everything we're building over the next year or two and we're okay with that being Geno while we do it. I know it's not sexy for fans, but if you're Aaron Glenn and you're like I want to win games, I want to build something here, I'm going to do it with the guy who I've seen can move, maybe do it and it doesn't.

[Anthony Pucic]

You don't rush the quarterback, which is something that in this town we tend to do a lot. No, we do. Because here's what happens, especially in the green.

[Alan Hahn]

Here's your point.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Never heard of.

[Alan Hahn]

To your point. What will happen is we'll forget that Ty Simpson was barely a thought and then all of a sudden it became a let's get him at 30, whatever it is, whatever the number ends up being. If they were to trade back up, we'll forget how we got there. And then you end up in August. They go, where's Ty Simpson?

[Peter Rosenberg]

When Ty Simpson.

[Alan Hahn]

We got to build a Ty Simpsons team. It's no, dude. It was never going to be tight. If you would just shut up. Let them listen. I know they haven't earned anyone's trust, but the last thing you want them doing is forcing the quarterback pick. The nice thing about them getting Geno is, is that if he plays decently, you can have him for two years. Let him be the guy.

[Anthony Pucic]

It does seem like Muji's kind of running the show there. And you don't have a reason not to believe in him yet.

[Alan Hahn]

No, not yet.

[Anthony Pucic]

It doesn't seem like he's going to do that. We're going to pick Zach Wilson at 2 or 3 or we're going to trade up to get Ty Simpson. If we don't believe in Ty Simpson.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's the dangerous thing about taking a quarterback that isn't ready that high. Because outside the building, there's too many forces that tell you he has to play and he doesn't have to play.

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And if you take. If you can get him in the second round, if that really does come to fruition, I think it's the best, best case scenario. Now, again, and if you suck and he doesn't show you anything and you find yourselves in the bottom five next year, guess what you can do? You can draft another quarterback.

[Anthony Pucic]

You could because you have the assets to do so.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right. So let's see if this plays out. But I kind of like. I like this scenario.

[Anthony Pucic]

This is an interesting one. Where do you guys think the next quarterback goes and who is it? After the jets, the next quarterback is taken at pick number 4, 53 by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Kid from Penn State, Garrett Nussmeier, quarterback.

[Anthony Pucic]

Penn State falls. Now, this is scary because I don't. I don't believe in Drew Aller. And that might be the problem of James Franklin just never winning a big game and Drew Aller just being a part of that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, he also got hurt a lot.

[Anthony Pucic]

He gets drafted at 61 to the Rams. If Sean McVay sees something in Drew Aller, I change my opinion on Drew Aller completely.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If you're Drew Aller, you hope for that. That's right.

[Anthony Pucic]

And the Cardinals weight for the guy that I think it's Vinnie in Staten island loves more than anybody, more than life itself. Carson Beck.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, Carson beck. Yeah.

[Anthony Pucic]

Round three, 65th.

[Peter Rosenberg]

How about that Carson Beck, who's like 33 years old, but it's all right. No, no. Yeah. I still think Arizona's playing is next

[Anthony Pucic]

year in the draft, but interesting to see Matt Miller.

[Alan Hahn]

You're gonna tomorrow you're gonna go through round four through seven.

[Anthony Pucic]

Yes. With Mac Miller and Matt Miller.

[Alan Hahn]

Both. Appreciate that.

[Anthony Pucic]

Yeah. That's going to do it for the binge if we don't come back with

[Alan Hahn]

Mac Miller in the next segment.

[Viking Pest Control Announcer]

We got.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What are we doing? We know he's not.

[Anthony Pucic]

I'm sure Malachi would like it.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, he's still looking up how big Shaq's feet are.

[Anthony Pucic]

That was interesting.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, that did the research analysis. All I had to do is Google it. Well, one thing that we haven't heard from, one thing, one person we haven't heard from who did speak also along with Darren Muji and Aaron Glenn on the Giants side is John Harbaugh. And it will get into the interesting things he had to say about the Giants and what they want to do to build that roster and the draft and everything else that'll be coming up later on in the show. But coming up next, UConn with a huge win over Duke. What an incredible iconic shot and a native New Yorker on the team. Malachi Smith, front and center for that moment, joins us next day. With us, Don Han rosenberg, ESPN NEW

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[Anthony Pucic]

This college basketball tournament moment is brought

[Peter Rosenberg]

to you by Marriott Bonvoy Connecticut has

[Marriott Bonvoy Announcer]

won the Big east championship.

[Don Hahn]

Fresh off winning five games in five days to win the 2011 Big east tournament, the UConn Huskies entered the NCAA tournament as the 3 seed in the west, including a 36 point performance by Kimball Walker in the Sweet 16. The run to the Huskies third national championship was one of the most remarkable postseason runs in college basketball history.

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Marriott Bonvoy where GameDay checks in Evan

[Evan Cohen]

Cohen Here Game day brings the excitement. Your stay should feel just as memorable with Marriott Bonvoy, official hotel partner of the NC AAA and US Soccer, you're connected to a portfolio of brands designed for how you travel. Some offer complimentary breakfast, others give you room to spread out space to stay productive or extended stay comforts. So whether you're a traveling fan or part of the team, Marriott Bonvoy celebrates the moments that live on before and after the game. Marriott Bonvoy where GameDay checks in thanks

[Don Hahn]

for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you watch. Want Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hey by the way, we have an ESPN New York programming alert so tomorrow night's Rangers Devils game can only be heard in one place. That is the ESP New York app. Don't miss any of the blue shirt action against their Cross river river rival. See, why do they. Why do you word it like that? Cross river rival rivals. It's tongue. Tongue Twist. Download the ESP New York app today so you're ready for tomorrow. 7pm Puck drop. It's New York Rangers hockey, and only on the ESPN New York app. Only on ESPN New York right now is Malachi Smith of UConn. They. They come off. Not just of UConn, I should say also Malachi of the Bronx. The boogie down. That's right, Saint Raymond as well. So we welcome you to the show, and first and foremost, congratulations. A trip to the final Four. I think that I'm sure you've been asked this a billion times already from friends, family, and anybody else that you've talked to, but what was that moment like when you see a missed free throw? 10 seconds left, there's got to be this sense of, well, I guess it's not going to happen. And then the turnover and the shot of the century. What, what, what. What was going through your mind in that moment?

[Malachi Smith]

Man, it was like a one minute left. I was on the bench. It was probably a minute left. I think we was down three or something. And I was just like, you know, I told myself in my head, man, I went out fighting. I did as much as I could, you know, elite eight. I did what I could. I had a great career. And then coach put me back in. Siles made the free throw. We got made the next one. You know, we tried wanting to foul. We got to stay, we got to steal. And I just. We just wanted to get something up on the rim and Burling pulled it from half. And, you know, we all seen. You know, we all know that he can make that shot. You know, just be with him all this past year. And when he made it, I just sprinted over and jumped on him. And that was probably the happiest I've ever been.

[Alan Hahn]

Did you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

When.

[Alan Hahn]

When you saw he got the look, were you able to have a clean look at him at that moment and thought, oh, wow, this is. This is a good, good shot. Were you able to process? Oh, he might actually hit this?

[Malachi Smith]

No, when he shot in the air and the bows in the air, I was just like, well, this might. This could go in. And it went in that tooth like that. Two seconds, 10. The world just stopped. And it was crazy. And I swear, as soon. As soon as he. As soon as he made it, if you watch this video, I sprinted and ran over and jumped on that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Have you have you seen, like, is. Because I know, like, we've talked about all the great shots in March Madness history, right? And I know that the Villanova shot with Chris Jenkins and Ryan Archie Diacono, they've talked about how. Oh, we've actually run that play. We've practiced that before. Now, you can't practice the steel and then coming up with a scrambled shot. But he shot that from the first s in Madness, my man. Like, have you seen him shoot from that kind of distance? And, like, you know, you guys mess around in practice. Have you seen him make those.

[Malachi Smith]

No, I've seen him make those shots. Come on, in practice, you know, the scrimmages. I've seen him shoot. He's really a flamethrower. And the fact he made it, you know, he just missed 4, 4, 3. Then he came back, you know, hit the. Probably the biggest shot of his career.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right? So I don't know if, you know, first of all, because it's a scramble. A lot's going on. You said that Danny puts you back in the game. And in that moment, were you on the court or on the bench?

[Malachi Smith]

No, I was on the court.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, you were on the court. I want you to know that the Duke call. You are highlighted in the Duke radio call of the final shot, and I need you to listen.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Here they think that you did something right. This is crazy.

[Marriott Bonvoy Announcer]

Get it in. They do for Boozer. Bobbled it back for Saar. Needs to get rid of it. Does for Kaden. 7 seconds. Try to throw it ahead. Deflected, stolen by Connecticut. Two seconds. It's Mullins up top for the win. Oh, he hit it with 3/10 of a second to go. Malachi Smith ran off the bench. That should be a technical.

[Alan Hahn]

I loved hearing your laughter. No. Yo, did you hear Malachi's laughing? The second he heard the Duke announcer's sadness as well?

[Peter Rosenberg]

And it's in.

[Alan Hahn]

And it's in.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Eddie, hit it. But they had you running off the bench. You wanted a tech.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, listen, they were looking for a tech anyway. I'll say this, though, the tech that really could have happened. And, Malachi, answer this carefully. I don't want to put you in a bad spot. If there was a tech to be had, it's your head coach going nose to nose with the referee. Did you see that or ask Coach about that by any chance?

[Malachi Smith]

No, I didn't see it till last. About last night, you know, just watching videos. But we had a meeting tonight. I should have asked him what his thoughts was but we all, my teammates and I were just like, no way he did that. I could have turned out really bad.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Really bad. This shows you the relationship he has with that one ref. Well, because I really.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't know. I couldn't tell. There's a part of me, I could be way off here. When I watched the video, I thought, maybe he has a very friendly relationship with the ref, and he's being silly. Like, can you believe we just won this game?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know, but I don't know. In moments like that, anything can happen. Malachi Smith joining us right now from. From UConn. Malachi Smith played 18 minutes off the bench, nine points. Yukon only had five threes made. Obviously, Mullins hit the last one of the four. Previous Malachi hit one of them. That was, for you guys, a struggle. Early in that game, I marveled at how the team. And again, you're 18 minutes off the bench, so you're a big part of this game. How there wasn't a moment down 18 even down 17 early in the second half, you guys never let go of the rope. Is that just. Is that what this team's character is about? Like, no matter what, you kept going down 11, 8 to go, still you guys kept clawing at it. What does. Is that what this team's been about all year?

[Malachi Smith]

Yeah, definitely. I mean, we've been in multiple high energy, high intensity games, and, you know, I think just that experience showed up, and our coaching staff did a great job, you know, at halftime, you know, just making sure he told us the right. The right words, you know, in the right tone to say, you know, we had to make sure just one war at a time. When. One war at a time, each possession. And that's what we did. And the film right now is amazing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right, so, as you know, you spend most of your career at Dayton. You come to UConn as a senior. You even said there was a moment where you thought, okay, that's it. All right, I get to the Elite Eight. But that's where it's going to end. It doesn't. Now you're in the Final Four, how much of this becomes a dream, and how much of this becomes even more motivation to say, I want to walk off the floor with a win,

[Malachi Smith]

man, everything just boosted up. You know, I'm trying to make sure. You know, I'm so. I'm still shocked that we won. So I'm just going to take the day, you know, just to enjoy the moment and not get some recovery stuff. But Tomorrow, make sure we locked in and back on. Back on track.

[Alan Hahn]

You are from the Bronx. What is your either bodega or cart? Breakfast order of choice.

[Malachi Smith]

Yeah, well, I usually get a bacon, egg and cheese, but I don't eat cheese. I get a bacon, egg. I don't know if that's weird, but.

[Alan Hahn]

No, listen, you don't have to be bullied into cheese.

[Peter Rosenberg]

First of all. First of all, you're talking to a guy that does the same thing.

[Alan Hahn]

Really? You're no cheese?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no, no, no. Straight up.

[Alan Hahn]

Why did you lose?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I go sausage, egg, though. Not bacon egg, but sausage egg, no cheese.

[Malachi Smith]

Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Salt, pepper, ketchup.

[Alan Hahn]

Malha, why are you out on the. On the cheese?

[Malachi Smith]

I just. I just don't like the texture of cheese. I don't eat cheese. I just don't eat cheese.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We're not. We're not all crazy.

[Malachi Smith]

If, you know, if you know me and my friends and family know me, they know I don't eat cheese.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow. Not a cheese guy. You learn something new every day.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He has his order, though.

[Alan Hahn]

So if they win the championship, just know Yukon, you. If they celebrate, Malachi will not be celebrating with cheese in the club.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Any kind of cheese.

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Any kind of cheese. It's all right, though. He got the other kind of cheese.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, there could be other cheese in the future. Saturday night, Final four.

[Don Hahn]

Man.

[Alan Hahn]

Any. Any level of nerves at this moment, or is it nothing but joy and excitement?

[Malachi Smith]

Nothing but joy and excitement. You know, I started, you know, the first national, the first Marsh Madness game. We played Furman, and obviously I had the most. That was the game. I had the most nerves. You know, I've never been in the tournament, and to start, you know, against a great Fermi team that could have potentially upset us. I think I had the immersion there, that game. But, you know, we got a couple games under our belt. You know, we're just ready to win these next two. Two games.

[Alan Hahn]

Did the start surprise you, by the way?

[Peter Rosenberg]

How.

[Alan Hahn]

When did you find out you were starting in the tournament?

[Caller/Listener]

I got.

[Malachi Smith]

No, about a couple days. About, like three days. You know, Silas was hurt, and then he didn't get any live reps. So, you know, I kind of figured, you know, I kind of figured I'll be starting to play major minutes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, listen, good luck to you. When you win the whole thing, come back on the show. We'll celebrate it with you.

[Malachi Smith]

All right, cool. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me, guys.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Thank you.

[Alan Hahn]

Take care, man.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Smith, thank you so much. From the Bronx, UConn what a sweet. How about, how about him saying like there was that moment 10 seconds ago where he's like, oh, all right, well, this was a good run. He literally because he's a red shirt senior. This is it.

[Alan Hahn]

This is it. I mean this, these Malachi Smith is the kind of story why you love the tournament so much because in all likelihood, I mean, who knows where he ends up finding a place to play, right? But listen, he wasn't starting at the

[Peter Rosenberg]

end of his senior year, right?

[Alan Hahn]

He had, he got the opportunity in the tournament. There's a chance he goes on to be a lawyer, do whatever he does in life.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He could probably play pro somewhere, maybe plays pro for a while and then goes on does what he's going to do.

[Alan Hahn]

But now he was part of winning tournament games as a starter and he made sure he was the first one with that hug for when the shot went down.

[Peter Rosenberg]

First guy he so on the floor when one of the iconic shots in March Madness history went down.

[Alan Hahn]

Pretty cool.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And there he was, right there, front and center, Yukon into the final four.

[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. I just want to know. It's good.

[Don Hahn]

Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 inches 80 ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers from 30 for 30 podcasts.

[Caller/Listener]

Did you say someone got shot?

[Anthony Pucic]

Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami,

[Peter Rosenberg]

gunned down the key to this case. It's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody.

[Anthony Pucic]

This might be a hit.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You want the truth? They just want a conviction.

[Anthony Pucic]

Being placed under arrest.

[Podcast Promo Announcer]

We had a killer amongst us.

[Don Hahn]

Murder at the U. Listen now.