Was JJ Redick Right to Play the Same Line-Up the Entire 2nd Half?

Summary

Podcast Summary: PTI – "Was JJ Redick Right to Play the Same Line-Up the Entire 2nd Half?"

Episode Details

• Title: Was JJ Redick Right to Play the Same Line-Up the Entire 2nd Half?
• Hosts: Mike Wilbon and Frank Isola
• Release Date: April 28, 2025
• Description: Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon face off in the nation's capital on the day's hottest topics.

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1. Introduction and Lakers Series Implications

Mike Wilbon opens the discussion by addressing the Lakers' precarious position, being just one loss away from elimination in their series against the Timberwolves. He brings into focus Lakers' coach JJ Redick's controversial decision to maintain the same starting five throughout the entire second half of their recent game.

Mike Wilbon (01:01):
"Tony apparently needs another day off. So I am joined happily today by our great friend Mr. Frank Isola. Could be sort of a tepid Monday response."

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2. Analyzing JJ Redick’s Coaching Decision

The core of the episode revolves around JJ Redick's strategy of not substituting any players during the Lakers' second half, particularly in the fourth quarter. Frank Isola provides a critical analysis of this decision, questioning its effectiveness given the team's performance decline in the latter stages.

Frank Isola (01:45):
"When you get outscored 32 to 19 in the fourth, 19 to 9 in the last five minutes, the questions are going to come up. How come you didn't use somebody off your bench?"

Mike Wilbon (02:49):
"JJ Redick was taking a calculated risk. He had to gamble, and coaches have to do that... Reddick, ultimately, you can say he got burned, but I understand why he did it."

The hosts delve into the possible reasons behind Redick's steadfast lineup, suggesting that the Lakers' flawed roster depth forced such tough decisions. Isola points out specific instances where fatigue and mental strain may have influenced player performance, notably LeBron James' decision to settle for a three-pointer instead of attacking the basket.

Frank Isola (02:49):
"LeBron, I don't know. Physically tired, I wouldn't say that. Mentally fatigued, because him settling for the three, I thought was big."

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3. The Lakers' Roster and Strategic Shortcomings

The discussion shifts to the Lakers' roster challenges, highlighting their reliance on key players like LeBron James, Gabe Vincent, and Julius Randle, while noting the absence of effective bench options. Isola emphasizes the need for the Lakers to address their lack of athletic big men to remain competitive in the playoffs.

Frank Isola (04:26):
"The Lakers could learn, look what Nico did with that roster while Luka was still on the team. They need athletic big men."

Mike Wilbon (05:04):
"We knew it was a flawed roster and Reddick's got to deal with that. The results are not always going to be positive."

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4. Eastern Conference Developments: Knicks, Pistons, and Bucks

Transitioning to the Eastern Conference, Wilbon and Isola discuss the Knicks' impressive start against the Pistons, propelled by a controversial referee decision that favored New York. They also touch upon the Bucks' struggle following Damian Lillard's torn Achilles injury, questioning the impact on Milwaukee's championship aspirations.

Frank Isola (05:16):
"The series should be two-two, but there are a lot of calls that get let go."

Mike Wilbon (05:53):
"Losing Dame Lillard is a big deal because that's a year that means Dame Lillard's not going to be able to play next year."

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5. NFL Draft Controversy: Shador Sanders' Selection

Shifting gears to the NFL, the hosts critique the draft process, focusing on Shador Sanders being selected in the fifth round—a decision they deem a significant oversight. Wilbon argues that Sanders' expertise and performance warranted a higher pick, attributing his lower selection to subjective biases that NFL teams often struggle to publicly address.

Mike Wilbon (10:10):
"Shador Sanders being on that board to the fifth round was a joke. It's a travesty."

Frank Isola (10:10):
"Do I think that hurt him? Absolutely. But let's also face it, Mike, when it comes to quarterback, it's the most important position in sports."

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6. NBA Physicality: Kachuk vs. Wilson Hit Analysis

The episode returns to basketball, examining two significant hits from the weekend involving Matthew Kachuk and Tom Wilson. The conversation scrutinizes the league's response to these plays, debating the consistency and fairness in suspensions and penalties.

Mike Wilbon (18:19):
"They found him undesirable. It was personal. But you think those guys will have the guts to publicly admit it?"

Frank Isola (19:45):
"He is big and nasty and tough as they come."

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7. MLB Spotlight: Aaron Judge’s Stellar Performance

Acknowledging sports outside of basketball and football, Wilbon congratulates Aaron Judge on his 33rd birthday and outstanding performance. Isola highlights Judge's impressive batting average, which notably surpasses his teammate Paul Goldschmidt.

Mike Wilbon (21:16):
"Happy belated 33rd birthday, Aaron Judge. Yanks swept the Blue Jays in the doubleheader. Judge currently leads the majors in hits, batting average on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and WAR."

Frank Isola (21:43):
"He's batting .406. That is 41 points higher than his teammate Paul Goldschmidt, who's second in baseball hitting."

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8. Historical Reflections and Team Updates

The hosts briefly reflect on historical moments, such as Rasheed Wallace's famous "ball don't lie" incident and the passing of NBA legends Dick Barnett and Stan Love. They also touch on recent developments in the Penguins and Commanders organizations, expressing skepticism over coaching changes despite past successes.

Mike Wilbon (23:30):
"Real quick. The big finish Penguins parting ways with head coach Mike Sullivan. Does that make sense?"

Frank Isola (23:36):
"No. They haven't made the playoffs in a few years, but he did win two Cups."

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9. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, Wilbon and Isola summarize their key takeaways, reinforcing the complexities of coaching decisions in the NBA, the unpredictability of the NFL draft, and the interconnectedness of player performances across all major sports. They sign off with light-hearted banter, maintaining the engaging and analytical tone that PTI is known for.

Mike Wilbon (24:19):
"I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads."

Frank Isola (24:10):
"No, I don't. It's April. We're out of time. Thanks for watching. I'm Frank Isola."

---

Notable Quotes:

• Frank Isola (01:45):
  "How come you didn't use somebody off your bench?"

• Mike Wilbon (02:49):
  "We have to make concessions. Reddick, ultimately, you can say he got burned, but I understand why he did it."

• Mike Wilbon (10:10):
  "Shador Sanders being on that board to the fifth round was a joke. It's a travesty."

• Mike Wilbon (21:16):
  "Judge currently leads the majors in hits, batting average on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and WAR."

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This episode of PTI offers a comprehensive analysis of key sports events, with insightful commentary from Mike Wilbon and Frank Isola. The dynamic discussion provides listeners with a deeper understanding of the strategic decisions in basketball, the impacts of player injuries in football, critical observations on the NFL draft process, and standout performances in baseball, all while maintaining an engaging and informative dialogue.

Transcript

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[Mike Wilbon]

Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon and we're happy to be back after a four day weekend.

[Frank Isola]

I'm Frank Isola. I think someone's taking a five day weekend. Not four oops. Five oops.

[Mike Wilbon]

You were called in out of the pen. Yep, out of the pen. Frank Isola.

[Frank Isola]

They went with the veteran right hander. I was ready to go, but they have me on a pitch count, so they're only gonna have me for a.

[Mike Wilbon]

Just don't. Just don't. You can't get, you know, need Tommy John before the show is over. Welcome to pti. Tony apparently needs another day off. So I am joined happily today by our great friend Mr. Frank Isola. Could be sort of a tepid Monday response. Let's start Frank with the Lakers now just one loss away from elimination. The Timberwolves miss narrowly beat the Lakers to take a 31 series lead. And Lakers coach JJ Redig made no substitutions, none in the entire second half, sticking with a five. That worked really well in the third quarter. Frank, do you understand why Reddick did it this way?

[Frank Isola]

Yeah, I understand it because you don't want to go down 3:1 in the series. But when you get outscored 32 to 19 in the fourth, 19 to 9 in the last five minutes, the questions are going to come up. How come you didn't use somebody off your bench? My only thing might there be a couple of things. LeBron blocks a shot. Dante DiVincenzo with 97 seconds to go leads to the Dorian Finney Smith 3, which puts him ahead. Minnesota calls timeout. At that point, are you saying the Lakers look gassed? Which is what Anthony Edwards had said. They look gassed. Next possession, he blocks Nas Reed. But here's where things turned. Because LeBron settled for a three. Maybe that was mental fatigue. He should have attacked the basket. Maybe they go ahead. And then that turnover that he had with 33 seconds to go after they had to call the timeout when it Looked like Luka got tripped and to avoid the backcourt violation. So LeBron, I don't know. Physically tired, I wouldn't say that. Mentally fatigued, because him settling for the three, I thought was big. And obviously the turnover, for a guy of his experience, his stature in the league, his intelligence, you can't make that play.

[Mike Wilbon]

You know, Frank, I go back and forth a little bit on this because in real time, watching that game yesterday, I understood that JJ Redick was taking a calculated risk. Yeah, he was. He had to gamble, and coaches have to do that. It's a flawed roster. They don't have the kind of depth, and they don't have exactly what they want after the trade. And we did not go into this postseason or certainly the time after the trade thinking, oh, the Lakers have to win. They're going to win championship this year. J.J. reddick has to make some concessions. And I understand this. And look, I know, I bet you've heard this because you were around these guys not as much as me, but quite a bit. Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan used to always say that during the postseason, when the timeouts are longer, they would convince their coaches, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson, no, no, no. I can rest on offense. Leave me in the game. We don't need to do this in the post season. The Lakers get an extra day coming out of yesterday's game. They're going to be able to rest. Okay, so you play all those things in, and J.J. reddick's looking at this and thinking, okay, LeBron not only gave him a block shot, he gave him two steals. Yeah, LeBron was great defensively, I understand. By the way, on the other hand, Kendrick Perkins has sort of convinced me. Wait a minute. Because Perk says, hold on, look at LeBron's production. First half, where he's averaging nearly 17 points a game on 60% shooting, to second half, where it's like eight points a game on 36% shooting, and you go, oh, perks onto something there. And so this is. That's what a gamble is. You, you, you. You have to give up something. You have to have some compromise. And Reddick, ultimately, you can say he got burned, but I understand why he did it.

[Frank Isola]

I mean, that's the thing. Jackson Hayes is struggling. You're going to put Gabe Vincent in. He was struggling. You're going with LeBron James, Gabe Vincent, though, haven't you? He's still making big defensive plays. You know, Anthony Edwards played the entire second half. Julius Randle played all but 31 seconds in the second half. And I was wondering watching the game because you know, LeBron was over two in the fourth. Let you remember that Luka was one for seven. And I'm thinking, I wonder if Nico Harrison has a smile on his face. But the one thing the Lakers could learn, look what Nico did with that roster while, while Luka was still on the team. You add Derek Lively, Daniel Gafford. They need athletic big men. And if they get knocked out in the first round, that's something they have to address. Mike, that's an issue, don't you think?

[Mike Wilbon]

No doubt, Frank. No doubt about that. And again, we knew it was a flawed roster and Reddick's got to deal with that. And the results are not always going to be positive. And now the Lakers on the brink of a limit.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah, and let's also remember that big call at the end of the game when it looked like it was going to be laker ball down one. Instead they call the foul on LeBron and Anthony Edwards, who's terrific, goes to the free throw line and of course he makes both. All right, let's move to the East. The knicks went up 31 on the Pistons yesterday after the ref swallowed the whistle on Tim Hardaway Jr. S game winning shot attempt. A foul that veteran crew chief David Guthrie later acknowledged the officials should have called. Joining The Pistons down 31 are the Bucks who lost Damian Lillard to a torn Achilles early in yesterday's loss to the Pacers. So Mike, which is the bigger deal?

[Mike Wilbon]

Well, losing Dame Lillard is a big deal because that's a year that means Dame Lillard's not going to be able to play next year. Dame Lillard, it's such a wonder to watch in the playoffs. And he and Giannis were supposed to give Milwaukee the one two punch. They can get them back to the finals after injury shortened playoffs. Injury interrupted injury ruined playoffs and now it's ruined again by injury. So that's, that's like a category over here. Let's go back to the Pistons and Knicks because that is result oriented. That one play causes havoc because that should be a two two series because Tim Hardaway Jr. I know he doesn't shoot free throws as well in the postseason. Slightly under 70 as well. He does does for his career in the regular season where he's over 80. He's going to hit two of those three and Detroit's going to win the game and even the series. That's just the way it's going to be despite Jalen Brunson's heroics. But you you got to make the call. Here's the problem, though, Frank. Detroit has made a big deal. J.B. bickerstaff, who I voted for Coach of the Year, they made a big deal out of Swallow the whistle.

[Frank Isola]

Don't worry about the whistle.

[Mike Wilbon]

We're tough. We can play through it. Don't hide behind the whistle. Be careful what you ask for because you know that can cut both ways. I feel bad for him. The series should be 2:2, but there are a lot of calls that get let go. But here's the thing, for me personally, I know I'm going back and forth now on the jump shot, you got to call the foul. It's not a scrum on the floor. It's not a guy on the baseline stepping out. It's. It's none of that. It's not an illegal pick with a guy sticking out his hip on a jump shot. With the game on the line. You got to make that call. The league blew that. It made the admission. I don't know what else is going to be in the two minute review, but, man, the series should be two two.

[Frank Isola]

All right, just under nine minutes to go. Detroit's up by 11. Mikhail Bridges, who was one for 10 after three quarters, hit that huge three, which I thought that got the Knicks going. Karl Anthony Town hit big shot after big shot and Jalen Brunson 15 points in the fourth. Everyone thought Kate Cunningham was going to be the best player in this series. It's been Jalen Brunson. So I thought the inexperience of Detroit, that Kid Thompson is going to be a good player. He makes mistake after mistake and Kate Cunningham turns the ball over way too much. And let's remember, he had a makeable shot that led to the rebound, which led to the Tim Hardaway play. My only thing about the play with Hardaway, it's in the corner and I'm not. It's a tough angle for most of the referees to see. I think Hardaway double clutching on pump. You know, he's in the air and he double clutches. I think that's trying to get himself a little bit. He's got to get his shot away. The referees admit afterwards, but that's when they have a chance to look at it. You want to have a rule where in the last, you know, in the last 10 seconds of a game, a big shot, a big turnover gets reviewed. Maybe, but what do you want the referees to do at that point? They miss calls all throughout the game. Everyone wants it to be physical.

[Mike Wilbon]

If you're Going to review the foul on the baseline in the other game. Don't tell me that the rules can't cover it, Frank. I don't want to hear it because that's double talk. And I know nobody in New York wants to deal with the fact that the Knicks got one. The Knicks always seem to get one. Michael Jordan. Oh, wouldn't be Michael B. Scotty might have an extra championship if it wasn't for the Knicks getting a favor from a referee whose name I won't even mention in Madison Square Garden in game five. So I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear about the fix for the Knicks and you and Stephen A. Oh, they could have. You don't need to make the call. Yeah, you damn better make the call. We're not all here to support.

[Frank Isola]

I think it was a tough call to make. It was hard to see.

[Mike Wilbon]

It wasn't tough.

[Frank Isola]

Let's not forget, too, game three, the clock malfunction ended up benefiting the Detroit Pistons. One quick thing about Lillard, you mention it, who knows if we're ever going to see him and Giannis ever played together. You know, they've only played three playoff games together, and they're 1 and 2 in those three games. Unbelievable.

[Mike Wilbon]

It's sad. It's sad. Nobody wants to see anybody who knows Dame Lillard and has watched him play over these dozen years or whatever it is. You don't want to see Dame Lillard not there.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

And now he's not there.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah. Classy guy and classy player.

[Mike Wilbon]

All right.

[Frank Isola]

And now to the NFL draft. Seven rounds over three days, and Shador Sanders somehow wasn't taken until the fifth. Hands up on the Browns, two rounds after they selected Oregon quarterback Dylan Gabriel. Mike, is Sanders fall your biggest takeaway from this year's draft?

[Mike Wilbon]

Yeah, Frank, sadly it is. I mean, you know, teams did this, they did that, we can grade them out. You don't really know what happens until at least a year in, sometimes two or three years in. But here's what we know now. Shador Sanders being on that board to the fifth round was a joke. It's a travesty. I'm not saying he got to go in the first, but don't tell me that everybody in the draft is better than Shador Sanders, because I watched the damn games. I watched the Colorado games. I don't need to just review film and take scout's word for it, okay? And even if we take their word for it, they all had him ranked much, much, much, much. Much higher than this. Mel Kuyper got this right when he said later, this is personal. This is not about football. It was personal because people looked at Shador Sanders for a lot of reasons. A lot of reasons. Different teams and in different rounds, different teams looked at him differently and. And they said, we find him undesirable. We don't want him. It is personal. And you know what happens with the NFL. They. The word distraction is a four letter word. And every coach and every executive can utter distraction. They just don't have the guts ever in the NFL to come out and say that somebody's a distraction. And they didn't want the distraction that they think Shador Sanders and the entire Sanders family was going to become. They don't have the stones in the NFL to ever say that out loud. So they hide behind other garbage. It was personal and it was awkward to watch.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah. And I was fascinating to watch. You know, you're watching the playoff games on Friday, plus you're watching, or on Thursday, I should say, the NFL draft. It was amazing to watch everything that went down. But you know, he didn't attend the Senior bowl, the scouting combine. He was 1 in 7 where Colorado was against top 25 teams. Do I think that hurt him? Absolutely. But let's also face it, Mike, when it comes to quarterback, it's the most important position in sports. And teams get it wrong a lot of times or else Tom Brady wouldn't be taking the sixth round. Where Joe Montana go the third round. Jamarcus Russell, where did he go? Look where Zach Wilson went. So they get it wrong. And what's amazing about it, he goes to the team which, let's face it, in the last 25 years, no one gets it wrong.

[Mike Wilbon]

They get. All they do is get it Wrong.

[Frank Isola]

They have four starting quarterbacks since 1999 and Sanders is the second one that they took. I'll say this about him. I thought he handled things when he got selected. He still celebrated then. He had that whole mess.

[Mike Wilbon]

I was surprised with the prank call.

[Frank Isola]

I thought he handled that really well. So in terms of his image, I agree. You play football, you're going to be brash because you're going to get killed at. I think everyone in the NFL is somewhat brash because it's a really difficult sport to play. But I think he's going to get a chance now. Someone is going to be wrong, or maybe a lot of people are going to be wrong and someone's going to be right. He's going to get a chance to Prove it when on the field. But they have a lot of quarterbacks. They got Flacco on the team. They got, you know, Kenny Pickett. You still have Deshaun Watson.

[Mike Wilbon]

All you can ask. He'll have a chance. But just before we move on, let me just say he didn't handle his pre draft process as well as he should have. And he. And he. And he said that. But the NFL didn't handle this individually, not as a group. I'm not talking about a conspiracy. Team by team. They didn't handle this as well as they could either. And they're never held accountable. Never. NFL teams individually, they're never held accountable. And so now we're gonna see.

[Frank Isola]

And Boomer Siasin had reported on the radio today that he had heard that owners were telling their GMs, take them off our draft board. So there was a lot of stuff going on with you.

[Mike Wilbon]

That's just what I'm saying. That's what I'm. They, they found him undesirable. It was personal. But you think those guys will have the guts to publicly admit it? As wealthy as they are? No. Cause they're. They're in large part frauds when it comes to that sort of personal accountability. Anyway, let's take a break. Coming up, the warriors came through without buckets. Jimmy Butler Saturday. Or was the Nuggets buzzer beating win an even bigger deal?

[Frank Isola]

And Tom Wilson's hit last night had to help the Caps earn a win. Should Matthew Cacheps have earned him a suspension? Man, that was nasty.

[Mike Wilbon]

That was a hit. That was nasty.

[Frank Isola]

Physicality in the NBA.

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[Mike Wilbon]

Time to get busy with the viewers. Frank, what's first?

[Frank Isola]

Wow, this is exciting. It's been a while since I got to open up the mail. All right, Mike, bigger deal from Saturday. The warriors winning without Jimmy Butler or Aaron Gordon's buzzer beating dunk.

[Mike Wilbon]

Gotta be Aaron Gordon's buzzer beater. Gotta be. I mean, look, winning without Jimmy Butler was great. It's impressive. But they would have just been down 2:1 with a home game tonight. You see where I'm sitting? I'm gonna be going over to. To the arena for the. For the dubs. For game four. Dubs. Houston. But it's the. It's the win over the Clippers. My goodness, the Clippers are the last team to lose a game like that. It was an inbounds pass in Phoenix, what, four years ago. This was a missed shot by Joker, but Eric Gordon puts it in. Unbelievable. Otherwise the Clippers would have control of that series. And now they don't. Dead even.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah. How about for the warriors, though? You look at what they've done since Jimmy Butler arrived. They're 26 and 9. That includes the play and that includes the playoffs. But to win a playoff game, I understand that it's at home, but it was like a throwback game for Steph Curry. Scores. 36 points. And for Houston. I understand they're inexperienced, but they're the highest seeded team. That was really their chance. As for the dunk, how did it get decided, Mike? An incredible replay. When you break it down to the split second, sure enough, Aaron Gordon's hands are not on the ball. We just complain about it. We can complain about replay a lot, but how about in this case?

[Mike Wilbon]

They got it right. Perfectly got it right.

[Frank Isola]

Right. And how about Jokic?

[Mike Wilbon]

It did.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah. Meanwhile, how about the performance by Jokic though? The 36 points, what was it, 21 rebounds. And he had like a Derek Wittenberg type of airball that leads to a game.

[Mike Wilbon]

You want to call that an assist, right? You can try to sneak away with that one. We're still waiting to find out what Jimmy Butler is going to do. That might be game time in a little bit. So I'm running away from you after we get out and done with this show. What's next?

[Frank Isola]

Frank, the other email says your limousines waiting for you. They've stocked it with everything that you need. So that was the other one. All right. Would you rather focus on the hit delivered by Matthew Kachuk or Tom Wilson? Two big time hits from over the weekend?

[Mike Wilbon]

Well, I was wanting. First of all, the league doesn't want to do anything to anybody named Tkachuk. It's like the NBA saying pretty pleased to John Morant. They just, they don't. Those leagues don't want to deal with that. The caps are down 2 1. 13 minutes left in the game and Wilson's hit on a Montreal defenseman, Kerry A. He's slow getting off the ice. Real slow. Cause he's woozy. The Caps 15 seconds later tie the game at 2. They go on bang, bang, bang with a couple empty netters to win the game and take the commanding 3:1 lead in that series. And they're going to win that series. Now, Frank, you know that hit. I don't know. Wilson gets away with a lot of stuff. He does.

[Frank Isola]

He is big and nasty and tough as they come. You know, if you, if what happened with Tampa Bay and Florida, you know, Tampa Bay, Brandon Hagel got suspended one game for a hit on Alexander Barkov. They were losing at the time, one nothing. It's a dumb play, but it seemed to kind of come in the flow of the game. Matthew Tkachuk's hit on Jake Gensel. That's happening when they're down 4:1. The game is essentially over. And he's thinking, you know what? I'm going to take my chance here. I'm just going to lay somebody out. In theory. Was the hit clean? Did he hit him in the head? No, but come on, context matters here. Mike, it's 4:1. If you're going to suspend their guy for the hit. Should Magna Tkachuk be suspended for one game?

[Mike Wilbon]

He knows that by now. He. They're not. The league is not gonna do that. He's untouchable. He is. At least for this whole postseason he is. And maybe beyond.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

Thanks for your email. Let's take one last break. But still to come, the commanders close in on a shiny new home.

[Frank Isola]

And where the Penguins. Right to see ya. To a coach who had won two cups.

[Mike Wilbon]

Race the rudders. Race the sails. Race the sails.

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[Mike Wilbon]

Time to get happy, people. Happy belated 33rd birthday, Aaron Judge. Judge's birthday was Saturday, and he couldn't celebrate on the field as the Yankees got rained out. But Sunday, the reigning AL MVP went 3 for 8 with a home run. Yanks swept the Blue Jays in the double header. Judge currently leads the majors in hits, batting average on base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and war. Any questions?

[Frank Isola]

I knew you were going to get the Yankees in here. You know that he's batting. I understand it's only April, but he's batting.406. That is 41 points higher than his teammate Paul Goldschmidt, who's second in baseball hitting. That's kind of hard to believe.406.

[Mike Wilbon]

Happy anniversary, Rasheed Wallace. On this day 22 years ago, after the Blazers staved off a sweep by the Mavericks, Wallace offered his famously unfinable postgame analysis. Both teams played hard. Both teams played hard, my man. Both teams played hard. Nine years later, Sheed popularized ball don't lie when he was ejected after screaming the phrase following a missed technical free.

[Frank Isola]

Throw by the Suns, Philadelphia's finest. He was tough to cover, and I got a chance. He could be rough with the media. Coaches loved him and I always think about that 2000 Portland Trailblazer team, Mike. That was a team. You know, you think about great teams that never made it to a Finals. I put them up there.

[Mike Wilbon]

They've never been to the finals.

[Frank Isola]

2002 Kings. Both teams, of course, lost to the Shaq and Kobe.

[Mike Wilbon]

Lakers way ahead against the Lakers in Los Angeles going into the fourth quarter. Melancholy trails to Dick Barnett and Stan Love. Barnett has passed away at the age of 88. He played on both the Knicks title winning teams in 1970 and 73 and starred on the Tennessee A and I teams, then won three straight NAI titles in the late 1950s. Stan Love is gone at the age of 76. He played four seasons in the NBA with the Bullets and Lakers. He was the brother of Beach Boys singer Mike Love and the father of Kevin Love, who made the announcement yesterday about his dad.

[Frank Isola]

I know it's been a rough year for Kevin Love. I used to see Dick Barnett around Madison Square Garden all the time. A gentleman and a scholar. Earned his PhD from Fordham University.

[Mike Wilbon]

No errors. We gotta run through this quickly. Real fast. The big finish Penguins parting ways with head coach Mike Sullivan. Does that make sense?

[Frank Isola]

No. They haven't made the playoffs in a few years, but he did win two Cups. I mean, that should be good for something. The Commanders. Big news for you. Mike reportedly reached a deal with DC to return to the city. Your thoughts?

[Mike Wilbon]

Josh Harris and the new owners are doing something everybody there loves. Congratulations. Duke freshman. Come on. Malawat is entering the NBA draft. You like him, don't you?

[Frank Isola]

He's seven foot two. You know that. I like him. Mao Sey Go won the Chevron in a five way playoff. Is that significant?

[Mike Wilbon]

Her first win on the LPGA Tour is a major. Wow. Last one. Rockies have lost six straight. A 4:23. You smell and win tonight.

[Frank Isola]

No, I don't. You know that they're 14 games out of first place. It's April. We're out of time. Thanks for watching. I'm Frank Isola.

[Mike Wilbon]

I'm Mike Wilbond. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.

[G]

Hey, I'm Brad Milke. You may know me as the host of ABC Audio's daily news podcast. Start here. But I'd like to add aspiring true crime expert to my resume. And here's how I'm gonna make it happen. Every week, I'm going to unpack the biggest true crime story that everyone is talking about. ABC's got some unique access here. So I'll talk to the reporters and producers who have followed these cases for months, sometimes years. We'll bring you the latest developments and the larger context on the true crime stories you've been hearing about. Follow the crime scene for special access to the people who know these stories best.