Best of The Herd

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – Best of The Herd
Release Date: April 3, 2025
Host: Colin Cowherd
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume

---

1. NBA Regular Season Highlights

Lakers vs. Warriors Showdown
The episode kicks off with a deep dive into one of the NBA's most anticipated regular-season matchups: the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Golden State Warriors. Colin Cowherd and guest analyst J. Mac discuss the significance of this game, emphasizing its playoff-like intensity despite being a regular-season encounter.

• Colin Cowherd [07:05]:
  "Those matter a lot. Upstairs processes fast and he's accurate. Isn't that the Brock Purdy story? Isn't it?"

• J. Mac [10:08]:
  "LeBron deserves to play with great moments. You see these iconic photos of D. Wade and LeBron or Luka and LeBron on the dunks."

Player Performances and Team Dynamics
The conversation shifts to key player performances, particularly focusing on Shohei Ohtani's impact with the Dodgers and his ability to deliver under pressure. The duo highlights Ohtani's consistency and his role in clutch situations.

• Colin Cowherd [10:12]:
  "Every single night they do something that makes you say, wow, how much fun is this? You just feel that he's gonna do something special."

2. NBA Playoffs Predictions

Western Conference Analysis
Colin and J. Mac delve into the Western Conference standings, assessing the prospects of top teams like the Lakers, Warriors, Nuggets, and the emerging Oklahoma City Thunder.

• J. Mac [25:21]:
  "It's only because of Nikola Jokic and how he is playing that I still believe they have a chance if Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray play their absolute best."

• Colin Cowherd [30:36]:
  "I think Boston’s going to win this thing. They have the best six-man combo."

Eastern Conference Overview
The discussion shifts to the Eastern Conference, with particular attention to the Boston Celtics and their strategic acquisitions. The Celtics are lauded for their depth, defensive prowess, and the strategic moves by their GMs, Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens.

• Colin Cowherd [31:08]:
  "They have a few really sharp GMs, Danny Ainge to Brad Stevens, and there just haven't been a lot of misses."

• J. Mac [44:40]:
  "The headline in the east will be 'I'd rather be a rich Zingus than a poor Zingus.' Boston breaks back-to-back."

3. Draft Prospects and Quarterback Evaluations

Shador Sanders’ Potential
A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to evaluating quarterback prospects, with a focus on Shador Sanders. Colin provides an in-depth analysis of Sanders' performance at Colorado, comparing him to other notable quarterbacks and discussing his draft potential.

• Colin Cowherd [07:05]:
  "I remember how he moved. I think you have to reach most of the time on quarterbacks."

• Todd McShay [07:05]:
  "He's the best pure passer in terms of touch, timing, layering the football. And he's the fastest processor in this class."

Comparisons to Established Quarterbacks
The conversation includes comparisons between Shador Sanders and established quarterbacks like Eli Manning, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen, highlighting Sanders' ability to create offense despite average teammates.

• Colin Cowherd [07:44]:
  "I go back to something important. Eli Manning wasn't dominating in college football, Patrick Mahomes wasn't winning games in college football."

4. College Basketball Final Four Preview

Duke vs. Houston and Florida vs. Auburn
Colin and J. Mac provide a comprehensive preview of the upcoming Final Four matchups in college basketball. They analyze team strengths, key players, and potential outcomes for the tournaments.

• J. Mac [43:02]:
  "Cooper Flagg is too good. You can't hold him down that long."

• Colin Cowherd [43:15]:
  "Tomorrow's headlines today. Tomorrow, Duke vs. Houston. That is one for the ages."

Key Player Performances
The importance of standout players like Cooper Flagg from Duke and Broom from Auburn is emphasized, with discussions on how their performances could tilt the games in their teams' favor.

• J. Mac [41:09]:
  "I like Duke too much. They have three guys who could go in the top 20."

5. Trends in Sports and Athlete Contracts

Influence of Brand and Team Dynamics
The episode touches upon the impact of team branding and financial strategies on player performances and team dynamics. Examples include Shohei Ohtani's alignment with the Dodgers and Carmelo Anthony's Hall of Fame induction.

• J. Mac [10:08]:
  "You have Shohei Ohtani with the Angels, if he hit a home run, it probably comes in a 7 to 4 loss."

• Colin Cowherd [16:01]:
  "Rocket Mortgage is giving every home one address, rocket.com... Rocket own the dream."

6. Closing Thoughts and Predictions

Final Playoff Predictions
Concluding the episode, Colin and J. Mac solidify their predictions for the NBA playoffs, with a strong inclination towards the Lakers and Boston Celtics as top contenders in their respective conferences.

• Colin Cowherd [48:52]:
  "My guess is I'm going to go Duke Auburn."

• J. Mac [48:54]:
  "I'll go Duke Florida."

Final Game Highlights
They wrap up by reiterating the excitement surrounding tonight's Lakers vs. Warriors game and the broader implications for the playoffs landscape.

• Colin Cowherd [47:07]:
  "This Lakers team, totally complete. We have discussions about who's going to defend Austin Reaves, like tonight and in the playoffs."

---

Notable Quotes

1. Colin Cowherd [07:05]:
   "I don't look at wins and losses. That's not what I look at."

2. J. Mac [35:21]:
   "At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer."

3. Colin Cowherd [16:01]:
   "Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio."

---

Conclusion

In this "Best of The Herd" episode, Colin Cowherd, alongside guest J. Mac, offers an insightful analysis of the current sports landscape, focusing primarily on the NBA's regular season and playoffs, quarterback draft prospects, and the college basketball Final Four. The discussion is enriched with expert opinions, comparative analyses, and bold predictions, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the top sports stories of the day.

For those who haven't tuned in, this episode serves as an excellent resource to understand the dynamics shaping the sports world in April 2025.

Transcript

[Wendy]

Wendy's is the official hamburger of March Manners, which means more deals for you and more burgers for your face. It also means we got a junior bacon cheeseburger or a double stack for $1 with an in app offer and a purchase. It's hard not to get excited when there's an offer of two of the freshest hot off the grill burgers that Wendy's makes. The Junior Bacon Cheeseburger with the fresh beef, applewood, smoked bacon, cheese, crispy lettuce, tomato and mayo and a hot and juicy double stack with two patties of fresh never frozen beef with cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickle, onion. The real champions of March Madness. Head to Wendy's app and grab a $1 junior bacon cheeseburger or a $1 double stack with an in app offer and a purchase for the freshest deal in fast food. Gotta be Wendy's.

[Colin Cowherd]

As a renter, do you ever feel like you're just throwing money away? Think you'll never be able to save enough to buy your own home? Then check out Rent Rewards from Rocket Mortgage. They're helping you put your monthly rent payments toward home ownership, and for the first time, you can save up to $5,000 off the cost of your home just by paying rent. Only at Rocket Mortgage. Learn more today at 804Rocket or just visit Rocket.com Rocket Mortgage LLC/housing lender licensed.

[Jeremy Hobson]

In all 50 states NMLS consumeraccess.org 3030.

[Rick Bucher]

We live in a divided country, and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in in Bone Valley Season one.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad, it's oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast, be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the [e-mail] or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio. Oh, it's good for Thursday show. It is a very good Thursday show. Yeah. Lakers warriors tonight, actually a huge regular season game. Things are cooking in LA where Shohei Odani pulled off his magic again last night. Dodgers. Once you get to the seventh, eighth inning, you better have a strong bullpen or it's over. It doesn't matter what the score is. J. Mac is joining me on a Thursday today. So the story, you know, whether it's politics or sports or the Oscars, keep your eye on the betting odds because it does always feel like people in Vegas or people overseas have a little bit of insight and they're in the rumor business. But a lot of times where there's smoke, there's fire. So J. Mac, Travis Hunter has moved ahead of Shador Sanders, the Colorado quarterback, in the betting odds to be the number three pick. So we know Cam Ward's going one and it looks like Shador Sanders is falling, which is generally the closer you get to a draft. Quarterbacks, they move up last year, remember Mel Kuiper said a week before the draft Bo Nix and Michael Penix are high second round picks. Well, Penix went 8 and Bo Nicks went 12 to Denver. So you know, a lot of times you hear as the draft gets closer and this year we have a scarcity of good quarterbacks and Cleveland and the Giants look like they really need them. So people aren't into Shador Sanders. I think there's two things. I think number one, there's enough video out there like you had with, you had this with Caleb Williams where there's some stuff where old school general managers are not going to like it. You know, you've got a little bit of immaturity. There's the watch pose against Arizona State and a couple teams. Old school guys won't like that and there's not enough wow like Caleb Williams had. There's not enough wow to go, okay, forget about it. You know, he's young, nil money, little into himself, whatever. So I think there's not enough wow. And there's a little bit of the Caleb immaturity stuff that old school GMs don't like. But I will say this. I go back to something that I think is really important. Colorado had very weak talent. And even though Shador is one in seven against ranked teams while at Colorado, he was wildly productive. 19 touchdowns, four picks, 300 yards a game, completed 70%. So he was swimming in mediocre, mediocre teammates. And yet he was creating offense on his own, running and moving. Everybody tells me I can't move, he's not athletic. Well, I watched he moved. I mean, he at least moved as well as like Bo Nix, who I think moves better than people give him credit for. So no support in college, didn't win games necessarily. Eli Manning wasn't dominating in college football. Patrick Mahomes wasn't winning games in college football. Josh Allen wasn't winning games in college football. But they were creating offense out of thin air with very average teammates. That impresses me. I'm not saying he's Allen or Mahomes. I'm saying I don't look at wins and losses. That's not what I look at. John Elway didn't win a lot of games in college. Okay. You know, Trevor Lawrence won almost all his games. So did Tua. So my track record on quarterbacks, I, I think I'm pretty good at the quarterback thing. Here's quarterbacks who people liked much more than me. Zach Wilson. You know, I didn't like Zach Wilson. Daniel Jones, Mitch Trubisky, Tim Tebow, Tua, Johnny Manziel. I was like, I'm not high on these guys. I don't see great first round talent. I did like guys where there were a lot of skeptics. I like Justin Herbert, I like Bo Nix. And I think I've been proven right to some degree on Sam Darnold. You know, you all think I hated Baker. No, I said Baker is a franchise quarterback. I wouldn't draft him at number one. And I think I've been proven right. He's probably not a number one. Little immature at the time. He's grown up. He's now good. So I would draft Shador Sanders if I needed him. I think you have to reach most of the time on quarterbacks. I also think where you land if you're kind of a B plus prospect, which should do or is has a lot to do with it. And Brian Dabel is an offensive coach and Kevin Stefanski is a good offensive coach. I think he would do well with both of those. Here's what Todd McShay said yesterday about him.

[Todd McShay]

I like Shador Sanders a lot doesn't have a huge arm, does not have mobility. I think that's the biggest mistake in the evaluation, at least early in the process. His instincts in terms of the pocket and kind of extending and drifting and always looking for the home run and not taking the short change, those sorts of things he'll manage through. And if people don't like him, what they say is he has some of the bad habits that Caleb Williams had that cause and problems as a rookie, but he doesn't have the arm or any is a fraction of the athleticism. But the people who love him love the fact that he's the best pure passer in terms of touch, timing, layering the football. And he's the fastest processor in this class.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, those matter a lot. Upstairs processes fast and he's accurate. Isn't that the Brock Purdy story? Isn't it? Well, Colin, he went. That's the story. It's the guys that struggle processing quickly and are kind of so, so accurate. So I am not a big fan of Jackson Dart. I think it's accurate. If you're not super accurate with Lane Kiffin as your coach in college, I do not trust you in the NFL. So Shador Sanders, his dad was a db. Okay. He didn't have all Americans outside of Travis Hunter. He was really productive like Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes with average teammates. I like him, I drafted. Okay, so it was Shohei Ohtani bobblehead night. People got in line like you know, eight in the morning and sat there all night. And of course he delivered eventually. So one of my favorite trends by stars in sports is I know money matters. I'm not naive. They want to play for winners. Shohei wanted to play for a winner. You know, Mike Trout is an all time talent, but he currently leads all active Major league baseball players. Mike Trout does in home runs, in losses, he's invisible in Anaheim. I think he should have gone years ago back to the East Coast. Shohei deserved the Dodgers big brand, iconic, well funded. They can put great batters around him. LeBron deserve the Miami Heat, Stafford deserve Sean McVay. Saquon Barkley had earned the right to play with the great O line in the Philadelphia Eagles. So the Dodgers lineup, this is really interesting folks. They are so good. Once they get to your bullpen. Dodgers don't necessarily lead all the time. They you can keep the Dodgers bats at bay with strong starting pitching. Garrett Cole did this a couple of times in the World Series. But they will eat your bullpen alive. Especially if you get to your second reliever. So last year, they led baseball in comeback wins. Last year, nobody in baseball scored more runs, eighth inning or after. So, you know, yesterday is typical. Dodgers fall behind and they just start chipping away and chipping away. And then they tie it in the eighth, and then they win it in the ninth with Shohei. And here is the walk off by the legend. High fly ball to center field. Harris is back.

[Rick Bucher]

Oh, tiny.

[Gilbert King]

Inevitable.

[Colin Cowherd]

Every single night they do something that makes you say, wow, how much fun is this? You just feel that he's gonna do something special. And I just like the way he's not pressing. He's in the strike zone. And when he does that, you know, there's just not. There's no one better. Yeah. Great players, in my opinion, deserve the right for great moments. You see these iconic photos of d. Wade and LeBron or Luka and LeBron on the dunks. Is that that's what they deserve? And, well, Colin, you're for big brands. Cooper Flag could play anywhere. But at Duke, you can't triple team him. There's other players, and like Shohei Ohtani with the Angels, if he would have hit a home run for the Angels last night, it probably comes in a 7 to 4 loss. Right? And so, like, to me, part of going to Ohio State for football is that if you're a running back, you know, you'll have NFL offensive linemen, a highly compensated coaching staff. It doesn't mean you chose the easy route to play at Georgia or Michigan or Notre Dame or Ohio State or Texas. It means you don't have to carry the entire franchise. The late Kobe Bryant, you know, people, he didn't mind being the man. He threatened to go to Chicago. He didn't want to be the only man. He's like, you got to give me somebody else. And so I get. When five star recruits in high school go to, like, big brands, it's not just the money. It's. I'm playing with other great players. And in baseball, what you don't want is a Joey Votto in Cincinnati where Votto gets the bag, but who's hitting in front of him? Who's hitting after him? Can you afford pitchers or is Votto just homering and driving in four runs in another 8 to 5 loss? Like, great players want to play with great managers. And the Dodgers are so well funded. Like, you know, he could have homered last night, but who would hit in front of him or behind him? And if you were paying Ohtani what the Dodgers did and the Angels wouldn't have deferred payments that you'd have to have. You'd have no bullpen. It would be in a loss and we wouldn't talk about it. So another great moment for him and another good night. In sports tonight, Warriors, Lakers. Yep. It means a lot. It's a regular season game. There's about a half dozen to a dozen all season that you're like, oh, this is about seeding. Late in the year, sometimes those Saturday night games, you know, the Celtics will be hosting the Cavs or the Celtics are playing in Golden State against the Warriors. Get those Saturday night AB NBC games. You're like, oh, it's a big NBA game. This is a really big one. This is for seating.

[J. Mac]

Nuggets lost last night, which helps the Lakers. They're now third in the West.

[Colin Cowherd]

That's right.

[J. Mac]

They win this, they put some separation between themselves and the war.

[Colin Cowherd]

It's a big Laker game tonight and.

[J. Mac]

The Lakers have OKC coming up with two games and OKC is going for 70 wins. It's getting heated in the West. Colin and I like the Lakers chances tonight.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, Rocket Mortgage is giving every home one address, rocket.com it's a single seamless homeownership platform to help you find, buy and sell, finance, even refinance your home. Everything you need under one roof. Just go to rocket.com rocket.com for the new home for all things home ownership. Rocket own the dream. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the iHeartRadio app.

[Rick Bucher]

We live in a divided country.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I am a lifelong Republican with all.

[Rick Bucher]

Kinds of different people.

[Jeremy Hobson]

You know, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother.

[Rick Bucher]

That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation.

[J. Mac]

Anna, I'm calling from Las Vegas.

[Rick Bucher]

Each week we bring together an all star panel. Mark Cuban, so great to have you on the Middle.

[Todd McShay]

Thanks for having me.

[Rick Bucher]

Jeremy, Neil Degrasse Tyson, welcome to the Middle.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for having me.

[Rick Bucher]

And hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country on the most important issues.

[J. Mac]

Hi, my name is Venkat. I'm calling you from Atlanta, Georgia.

[Rick Bucher]

And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news.

[Anna]

We should be examining what our government spends its money on and are these jobs necessary and what are we doing here but that doesn't seem to be what we're doing in this situation.

[Rick Bucher]

Listen to the middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Colin Cowherd]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Long, silent voices from his past came.

[Gilbert King]

Forward and he was just staring at me.

[Jeremy Hobson]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad, it's, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy.

[Gilbert King]

Jeremy, I want to tell you something.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

You're now entering the no Bull zone, sponsored by credible Great rates. None of the bull. So Carmelo Anthony was elected to the hall of Fame yesterday. He's obviously a first ballot hall of Famer, but I was at the gym yesterday and somebody came up and asked me, it was a Laker fan. He goes, why is Lucas so bad defensively? I mean, he's a great athlete. Why is he so bad defensively? And I said, well, it's like Carmelo Anthony. I have a belief that when you're so gifted early and, and you can identify it and everybody else can identify, you're so gifted early, you know, 13, 14 years old in basketball, which is, let's be honest about the basketball culture in America. Go get buckets. You get paid and you get scholarships for getting buckets. And Carmelo was so gifted offensively at 13, 14. Lucas similarly, that it can stunt growth elsewhere. Both are bad defensive players. It's like, it's like the running quarterback. Why develop into a pocket quarterback in high school or college? You can just run and be successful sometimes. Running quarterbacks often never become great in the pocket or it takes them a while. Jared Goff Knew that was his only way to succeed. So Luca and Melo were so gifted, you know, Both were averaging 21 a game in the NBA as rookies. I mean, I mean, I mean, Carmelo won the dunk contest. High school, McDonald's, Natty. 22 a game, unstoppable at college, 21 a game in the NBA. You don't really have to develop into a great defensive player. You're going to get paid, you're going to get attention, you're going to get a shoe off the offense Now. D. Wade played great defense. Why? Because he wasn't as gifted offensively. He was a grinder because he knew that was his way to attention, money and scholarships. D. Wade to the end was never a finesse, smooth offensive player. Not a three point shooting guy. He got his points on defense and toughness and playing bigger than his size. Now you could say, well, what about LeBron James? LeBron James was not as gifted offensively as Luca or Carmelo Anthony. At 16 years old, he was a better athlete. But LeBron James could not shoot a three pointer for years. He was just a freight train. He was a locomotive. You couldn't stop him physically. He scored at the rim, he scored mid range. But he wasn't as smooth as Luka at 14, 15. Offensively, he couldn't shoot like Carmelo Anthony at 16 or 17 years old. And so I think a lot of times you see this, and that was always my thing with Carmelo. It's, it's the burden of early greatness when people can spot it in the basketball culture, like go get buckets is how you get shoes, fame and attention. You know, Tony Allen and Ben Wallace are great defensive players and have shoe deals. Not that I know of. So I think, you know, at 18, Luke is winning the Euro Cup MVP against older guys. And so you don't have to be as well rounded once offensively, you are identified, really in all sports, if you're identified, if you're known as a great hitter, people stick in right field, first base, dh, right, you can hit your way to the big. There's been a lot of guys who have had great major league baseball careers that are reliability defensively, put him at first dhm. And so that's always my take on Carmelo is he and Luca, that was always my comp is that Luca is like a better version of Carmelo. I think he's a better passer and I think he's even a more natural score. He's a better outside shooter. Carmelo's an all time offensive scorer, but never in the best shape. You know, didn't take a step back, but you couldn't stop him. It got him 26 a game. There's nothing you could do. Couldn't stop him in high school, couldn't stop him in college, couldn't stop him in the NBA. And his prime. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

[Steve Covino]

Hey, it's Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. And of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture, stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search KO Vino and Rich wherever you get your podcast. And of course, on social media, that's Covino and Rich.

[Rick Bucher]

We live in a divided country.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I am a lifelong Republican with all.

[Rick Bucher]

Kinds of different people.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother.

[Rick Bucher]

That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation.

[J. Mac]

Anna, I'm calling from Las Vegas.

[Rick Bucher]

Each week we bring together an all star panel. Mark Cuban, so great to have you on the Middle.

[Todd McShay]

Thanks for having me. Jeremy.

[Rick Bucher]

Neil Degrasse Tyson, welcome to the Middle.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for having me.

[Rick Bucher]

And hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country on the most important issues.

[J. Mac]

Hi, my name is Venkat. I'm calling you from Atlanta, Georgia.

[Rick Bucher]

And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news.

[Anna]

We should be examining what our government spends its money on and are these jobs necessary and what are we doing here? But that doesn't seem to be what we're doing in this situation.

[Rick Bucher]

Listen to the middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Colin Cowherd]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Long silent voices from his past came.

[Gilbert King]

Forward and he was just staring at me.

[Jeremy Hobson]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad, it's, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy, Jeremy, I.

[Colin Cowherd]

Want to tell you something.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, tonight's the biggest regular season game, arguably of the NBA season. Lakers are playing the Warriors. It's an excellent matchup. Both playing really, really well. Like LeBron's not quite what he was pre injury with a honeymoon period with Luka. Rick Bucher's joining us live, covering the league since 1993. Fox Sports NBA analyst. So, you know, it's a. Well, I'll just ask you this. Who does the game feel bigger than you do? Get about a dozen regular season games a year where you can kind of sense there's like a playoff feel to them. This is going to be one of those games like, like, like, like. What if I had to say who wins tonight and why? Yeah, who do you like?

[J]

I like the Lakers. I like the Lakers as a matchup. I like the Lakers overall in terms of their chances in the Western Conference. You can point to a lot of different things, but it really comes down to the star player for each team, the go to player for each team. And with the Lakers, it's luka doncic at 25, 26 years old and simply because of his size and the way that he plays, it's easier for him to get what he needs to get. I can't ignore Steph's age and size and the way the warriors work. It's just the degree of difficulty is much higher. And when I look at the Western Conference as a whole, there are a number of teams there with legitimate size that they're going to have to go through at one or both of these teams, and the Lakers are better equipped for that. When I look at their front lines, even though they both sort of play small at critical times. LeBron James and Rui Hatsumura, we're talking about two guys that are 68 and 69 versus Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler at 66 and 6 7. And then offensively, the versatility of Rui and LeBron is just greater than what Draymond and Jimmy is. So it's not by a whole lot. And the synchronicity of these two teams and the chemistry can certainly change the dynamic. But overall, sizing up these two teams, on paper, I just believe the Lakers are better equipped to make a run at at least the Western Conference finals.

[Colin Cowherd]

Golden State's interesting because they can still be kind of step dependent offensively. But Butler and Draymond, they've now got another veteran, Butler and Draymond to get him, be a catalyst and get him better looks. Whereas I feel like Luka could have a bad night and LeBron and Austin Reaves would be fine. Carrying you, is it? My take is they still feel Steph dependent offensively. Do you believe that?

[J]

Oh, 100%. 100%. What they got out of Jimmy Butler is another guy who helps them facilitate Steph getting what he needs to get. But overall, I mean, let's just look at this team. When you go, Stephen Curry, who's the next most dynamic scorer on the team? The easy answer used to be Klay Thompson. And then let's go down the line, like, who is it? Who do you count on as being that counter scorer to. To. To Steph? And I think most people would probably say Jimmy Butler has come in and done that. He's upgraded that number two spot, Buddy heel. Probably was that previously, maybe Jonathan Kaminga on good days, but it was a debatable thing. But is Jimmy really that kind of scorer? He has been in the postseason, but he's been that when he's been the primary in the postseason. So this is the X factor here, Colin, which is that chemistry and the basketball IQ and the warriors ability to play their system and be greater than the sum of their Parts is what has made them special in the past. Can they still capture some of that? Sure, they can and would. If they did, and the Lakers are still struggling with trying to find a balance between LeBron and Luka and Austin in terms of who's really going to run this at critical times, then that would tilt things in the warriors favor. But all things equal, I'm still going to favor the Lakers.

[Colin Cowherd]

So when we look at the Western Conference standings, you know, there's. There's Oklahoma City and Houston are the classic talented young teams without a trophy, so they play their butt off in the regular season. I don't buy Houston as much. I think the Lakers the other night kind of showed. If you. If you really ratchet it up, it's a young team that can miss a lot of shots. I think the Thunder are too good and too deep not to win a couple of playoff series. But the real interesting team to me is. Is the Nuggets. So whereas we both kind of acknowledge the Lakers and the warriors should pretty do pretty well unless they have to face each other in the first round, Denver has the best player on the planet, doesn't play with another all star. They're not as deep as they were. They rested people last night. Where are you? Maybe they feel disrespected by SGA if he wins the mvp. Where are you now? In a team that I thought, after they won, I thought, are we looking at the Spurs? Are we looking at a big man dynasty? And they just don't feel. They just feel like they're not. They're bad defensively. Where are you on Denver?

[J]

It's only because of Nikola Jokic in the way that he's playing right now that I even give them a puncher's chance at still being a contender. Can their. Their depth of experience in the postseason, their collective depth of experience, can that win out potentially? I mean, we kind of say the same thing about the Lakers that, that experience, or maybe even the warriors, their postseason experience is what gives them an edge and why people believe that they can knock off the Houston Rockets or even possibly the Oklahoma City Thunder. I'm off on that, by the way. I'm not putting those two teams in the same camp. Oklahoma City did win a series last year. Depth wise, experience wise. We don't talk about it a lot, but they actually have more playoff game experience than the Memphis Grizzlies. And we never talk about their lack of postseason experience when we talk about their weaknesses. So the Nuggets, for me, you're right. And part of this is, if you look at Stan Kroenke, the owner, this is what he does. He did it with the Rams. He did it with the Avalanche. He's done it with the Nuggets. He will do everything. He'll push all his chips to the middle of the table in order to win a championship. But then he gets a little bit frugal or stingy, and they've quietly let a lot of key pieces go and haven't replaced them. So it's only because of Jokic and how he is playing and the matchup nightmare that he presents that I still believe they have a chance if Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr play their absolute best. But the difference from when they won that championship is now, Christian Brown's not a luxury. He's an essential. Peyton Watson has to give you quality minutes. They're relying on a lot of guys as a result of losing Kentavious, Caldwell Pope and Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, you know, proven veteran guys. Now they're relying on luxury items to be key pieces in the puzzle, and they just haven't demonstrated that they're quite ready to do that.

[Colin Cowherd]

Usually, if you look at the history of the NBA, we rank dynasties higher if they have star power. We love the MJ dynasty. Showtime, Lakers, Shaq and Kobe and the Duncan ones. Like, yeah, there was a team down in Texas. They were pretty good. It didn't have a lot of sizzle. And I think we are. I think Boston's going to win this thing. I think between Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge, they have a couple of basketball savants. This is a roster full of guys that can all pass, dribble, shoot, and mostly defend. Mostly it is loaded.

[J]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

I mean, they got the best six man, the best combo. And I think because they're like the spurs, they don't have big personalities. We just. We're a little punitive on that. We. NBA is an aesthetic league. We like our stars to be fun. You know, the 76ers with Dr. J, that's what we like. And I think they're. I think they're going to run through these playoffs. I think their ability to win on the road decisively is like MJ stuff, is like Kobe, Shaq stuff. That's. That's the difference between good and great. I think they're going to run through the playoffs. Do you.

[J]

They could. They easily could. I mean, part of it is they've been on cruise control through this season, and everybody's questioning is that because they, you know, they know how much effort it's going to take to repeat in, in May and June. And so they realize, hey, we're probably going to win, so have to win some games on the road. It's not all that important that we have the best record. Then they're still going to have home court advantage in the first round. So there is some of that. The other part is to your point, like who's their most dynamic player? Jaylen Brown. Like that doesn't, that doesn't really doesn't ring the bell if you're comparing him to a Kobe or a Michael or any of the other dynamic players. The question that I have, Colin, is are they going to be what you're suggesting? Are they going to be the San Antonio spurs where they win multiple titles over a long stretch, or are they going to to be the Detroit Pistons who were also formidable for years? I think they went to the conference finals like six years in a row but only won one title. So are they going to be really good but not necessarily dominant and go to that next level or are they going to be the San Antonio spurs where it's there if they're not winning back to backs, they're consistently going back there and honestly I don't know at this point because of the way the league is changing and the difficulty in terms of keeping a team together for a long period of time. At some point guys want to get paid or they want bigger roles and it becomes difficult to hold together the same team for a long time.

[Colin Cowherd]

Rick Bucher, Fox Sports Warriors, Lakers. A really big, big regular season. It's fun. I mean you don't get a ton of these. This is a big deal. There's six or seven guys that, that are getting hall of Fame votes or inclusion. Like this is a good one tonight. It'll feel like a playoff game. Teams at this point of the year are not playing starters or playing everybody a lot of minutes. There's not a lot in between here. Teams are tanking, resting or they are all in for a big seating game. And that's what the ladders is what this is tonight. Rick Bucher, good seeing you, Rick.

[J]

You got it.

[Colin Cowherd]

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app.

[Rick Bucher]

We live in a divided country.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I am a lifelong Republican with all.

[Rick Bucher]

Kinds of different people.

[Jeremy Hobson]

You know, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother.

[Rick Bucher]

That's why we started the middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation.

[J. Mac]

Anna, I'm calling from Las Vegas.

[Rick Bucher]

Each week we bring together an all star panel. Mark Cuban, so great to have you on the Middle.

[Todd McShay]

Thanks for having me. Jeremy.

[Rick Bucher]

Neil Degrasse Tyson, welcome to the Middle.

[Colin Cowherd]

Thanks for having me.

[Rick Bucher]

And hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country on the most important issues.

[J. Mac]

Hi, my name is Venkat. I'm calling you from Atlanta, Georgia.

[Rick Bucher]

And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news.

[Anna]

We should be examining what our government spends its money on and are these jobs necessary? And what are we doing here? But that doesn't seem to be what we're doing in this situation.

[Rick Bucher]

Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Colin Cowherd]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Long, silent voices from his past came.

[Gilbert King]

Forward and he was just staring at me.

[Jeremy Hobson]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done the job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy, Jeremy, I.

[Colin Cowherd]

Want to tell you something.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Colin Cowherd]

Folks, it's that time the old crystal ball arrives on set, usually on Fridays, Thursdays, because we're doing best of the Herd tomorrow. We got the final four NBA playoffs around the corner.

[J. Mac]

By the way, are you perturbed by the chalky Final Four?

[Colin Cowherd]

No, I think it's great.

[J. Mac]

Yeah. A lot of outrage, faux outrage, you know, that nonsense.

[Colin Cowherd]

Oh, there's no great games. You have to be careful about confirmation bias. I. There's a kind of A legendary college basketball sports better and he just got crushed in this term.

[J. Mac]

Oh, Alan Boston. Yeah, I'm familiar with his work.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah.

[J. Mac]

Crushed, crazy. But he's, he was a good gambler.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. But he loves mid majors. He loves the little guy and I think that sometimes it's confirmation bias. You're like, ah, the little guy, the little guy. Never forget in America everybody it wants to eat the rich. Why do people play the lottery? They want to be rich. Let's not pretend like you know, it's so, it's a lot of it's just envy. And the same thing is for mid majors is you know those coaches at mid majors privately, they'd rather coach at Kentucky and play with better coach better.

[J. Mac]

Players, bigger nil budget of course.

[Colin Cowherd]

So the mid major has always been overstated. They, they, they're a little undervalued historically but the NIL has changed that. It, you know, the mid major guy gets good and here, you know, from Dayton or something and then all of a sudden you know, Syracuse or Yukon are like, you know what, you could be our third best starter or second best starter. So that's the way society works. People, talented people have options. I, I saw something the other day on TikTok where they were talking about an average looking man has to swipe 200 times on. What's that site?

[J. Mac]

Tinder.

[Colin Cowherd]

Tinder. To get one cup of coffee with a, with a date.

[J. Mac]

What does a woman have to do?

[Colin Cowherd]

Well it's, I didn't, I don't know that but they said and of the four of the five times they get coffee they won't get a second coffee. So I mean just things are easier when you have certain height, looks, talent. Well the coaches want to coach the best players and players want to play with the best players. And so you know, the nil is a long time coming. So if you are a believer in paying college athletes, the same people that are upset about mid majors disappearing in March are also the same people that want athletes to get paid. Here's the way it works in America. The minute you pay college athletes you're going to have a hierarchy very quickly and people are going to separate. You're going to find out your market value. And so you, you know that all the people that were fighting for the little guy to get paid he getting paid now a lot by Kentucky, not Dayton. So that's just the market speaking.

[J. Mac]

It's like in major league baseball, a lot of these lower end teams, the owners that don't want to spend, they're Essentially farm systems for the Yankees and the Dodgers and the. That's how it's working in baseball. That's definitely what's happening in college football and basketball.

[Colin Cowherd]

All these small market baseball teams for years were propped up by the regional networks, which was the Fox business. When Fox sold it and other people couldn't run it like Fox, it dried up and it's hurt Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and Kansas City and the Mariners. So it's like the truth eventually comes out. The big gobble up the small. And that's all that's happening with nil. The big and. And the, the bigger bankrolls are smallering, swallowing up the smaller bankroll. You see it in tech, you see it in every industry. All right, let's do it. Tomorrow's headlines. Today, what's the headline for Florida and Auburn? Two SEC hotbeds for hoops these days.

[J. Mac]

Two great SEC teams. I got some good news for Auburn. Auburn report that just came out. The headline will be. Join us for crocktale hour. Gator shots go down easy. I have Florida taking down Auburn. However, it just was revealed that Auburn star Broom, the big fella who has been getting double doubles in like the first half. He practiced fully today. He will play Saturday in the final four. He missed practice the last two days, so there was some concern. Remember the elbow in the knee? Now, Broom is an excellent player. I think he's like 23 years old. However, Florida has the depth, I think to handle. They got four guys that they can throw at the big fella from Auburn and I give a slight edge to Florida, the backcourt. But I will say my favorite player in this game is Pettiford, the lefty backup point guard, the freshman for Auburn. He is so smooth. I've been saying he's a lottery pick. A lot of people are like, no, no, you watch if he plays Clayton toe to toe. Clayton's a great Florida point guard. I think we'll hear Pettiford as a lottery pick. I think Florida narrowly escaped.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, here's the, here's a game that's going to be great. Tomorrow's headlines. Today, Houston and Duke defense against offense. What say you?

[J. Mac]

Yeah, remember after we did the Calcutta, I came on, I said, we got Duke. I'm a dude Blue Devils fan. I want a Cooper flag jersey. The headline, well, hey, the Dukes of Hazard Cougars wave the white flag and that is flag. I got Cooper flag and Duke advancing. However, Colin, some of these analytics guys have put this in front of me. You got a stat I don't know if it's out there, the top 25 defenses Duke has faced in the last month, zero. You have to go back to the Clemson game in early February for a top 25 defense. Duke lost that game, so they haven't played a good defense. Alabama don't play defense. Baylor does not play defense. Houston's the number one defense in the country.

[Colin Cowherd]

No, it's gonna be a close game.

[J. Mac]

This will be a test. There's a big divide. The spread is five.

[Colin Cowherd]

Colin, take the points.

[J. Mac]

However, Ken Palm, the number one analytics site, says this is a two point game. And there's another analytic site that says it as Houston by one. So there is a divide. The public.

[Colin Cowherd]

This will be potentially the best college basketball game, men or women of the year. Yes.

[J. Mac]

I think it will be absolutely phenomenal. I think Duke wins. I don't trust Houston and like clutch situations. They've played some, some tough games. They have an edge in the backcourt. But how you not riding with Cooper Flag? Give me Duke.

[Colin Cowherd]

Tomorrow's headlines today. So who do you like the national championship?

[J. Mac]

Duke. Florida in the natty. A lot of people had this. You probably had it. Oh, no, you didn't have it in your breath because you didn't go chalky. The headline will be courtesy flush. Duke cleans the rim and cuts down the nets. Listen, John Shire's done a tremendous job. They have an awesome team. They got three guys who could go in the top 20. The big seven footer in the middle, Cooper Flag. And then of course, Knipple, who's very good. I like Proctor, the guard. Colin. This is just a great basketball team. The one interesting thing is they are one of the youngest teams.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, that's why I didn't pick them to win it.

[J. Mac]

A lot of freshmen and sophomores and it's like, oh, that's tough going up against the grown men of Florida and the grown men of Houston. But I think Duke prevails. I just think Cooper Flagg is too good. You can't hold him down that long.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right, so big one tonight. Lakers, warriors, let's go. What's the headline going to be for the Western Conference? Tomorrow's headlines today, the deep loaded Western Conference of the National Basketball Association.

[J. Mac]

So next couple weeks on the show are going to be wacky and I figure we get our NF NBA prediction out of the way in the West. OKCs won what, 63 games? How many is Denver? One. Don't know. The headline for the Western Conference will be Luca Tick Fringe Lakers going off the rails on A crazy trade. I, I, I'm sorry. I think they're going to the Western Conference finals, Colin. I don't think anybody's standing in their way. Remember how they had like a 22 game sample size where they were the best defense in the league and then they kind of cratered and all of a sudden what? They're not that good folks. They played eight games in 12 days. They were exhausted due to the Back to backs. LeBron was hurt, Reeves was hurt. Everybody's healthy now, Colin, and I'm just telling you, this Lakers team, totally complete. We're having discussions during the commercial break about who's going to defend Austin Reaves, like tonight and in the playoffs. He is a tough matchup. You got Luka, Obviously you have LeBron. This is a great litmus test tonight against the warriors, apparently. Tickets, it's a tough, tough ticket to get in tonight. You probably could if you.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I'm an influencer.

[J. Mac]

Yeah. So Lakers to the Western Conference finals for sure.

[Colin Cowherd]

Finally, tomorrow's headlines. Today, the more predictable Eastern Conference.

[J. Mac]

Yeah, it's, it was supposed to be Celtics and Knicks, but then the Cavs have come out of nowhere and they're a challenger. The headline in the east will be I'd rather be a rich Zingus than a poor Zingus. Boston breaks bank back to back. I just, I like Boston too much.

[Colin Cowherd]

Too much.

[J. Mac]

I think they've gone through the, the motions a little bit at times this season. You know, like, hey, we just won the title. And I think that's enabled Cleveland to look better than they are. My Knicks. Brunson still not, he's not, not back yet. They haven't matched up great with the Celtics. So I think Boston's the team to beat in the east and I think they cut down the nets again this year.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah, I mean, it's, they have a couple of really, really sharp GMs, Danny Ainge to Brad Stevens, and there just haven't been a lot of misses. I mean, when, when, when, you know, some of this is Giannis. Giannis wanted a better running make with more offensive firepower, and they moved Drew Holiday. Milwaukee loved him for Dame and Dame's defensive liability. He's getting older, breaking down. And so they got Drew Holiday, which was an upgrade over Marcus Smart. They were good with Marcus Smart, Brown and Tatum. Now they're better than Porzingis. Had a great year in Washington. Nobody paid attention. Brad Stevens brings him over. He's a, he's a character issue. He breaks down. All I know is when he's on the floor and Horford's been slinging it for years. And now Peyton Pritchard.

[J. Mac]

Don't forget Derrick White. What a heist that was.

[Colin Cowherd]

They are just. They are. And I'll say it again. They. They've got a Spurs feel where we're not going to pay a ton of attention because they're not a flashy team. We love our Kobe, Shaq. We love our, you know, we love our Michael Jordan. Showtime. Lakers. Jordan. We like our NBA champ to be flashy. In the 70s, the sonics were good. Washington, Golden State, they weren't flashy. Portland was great. That should. And that's okay. It's not a criticism. In the NFL, we don't care if you're tough and physical like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, well, you could be a Super bowl champ. NBA, we like a little flash or we don't give you the credit you deserve. I think. I think Boston stacked. The fact that they are. They can go into any NBA arena, they could go into OKC in the final and win by 18. They are. They. Not many teams in elite can do that. All right, J. Mac are. Now, you have tomorrow off, and I have tomorrow off. Well, what do you. What do you got planned for the big weekend? You got three there.

[J. Mac]

I don't. You know, I got to prepare for next week. I gotta put some takes in the holster, get them ready. Ready for action. Already cooking up some stuff.

[Colin Cowherd]

We'll.

[J. Mac]

We'll see.

[Colin Cowherd]

I'll tell you what. Duke, Houston, that is one for the ages.

[J. Mac]

If Duke loses, I'll be kind of sort of devastated. Then it loses. Luster. Like, are you fired up about a Houston, Auburn final or. Houston.

[Colin Cowherd]

Well, I picked Auburn to win, so I would be.

[J. Mac]

Would be. Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. You know, it. It's the thing about Florida and Auburn. Florida, as good as they are, they're one of those teams that can go to come down and give you four or five minutes of wasted possession, you know, and college teams do that a lot. Duke doesn't. Duke doesn't give you wasted possessions where, you know, Duke. They know what they are. They lean into what they are, and they've got a sensational player. And that's what. That's really the difference of having a superstar in the NBA is. And that's what Milwaukee struggles with. Yes, Giannis is their star, but he's a liability at the free throw line. So do you always go to him late?

[J. Mac]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

You know, the Shaq without Kobe or D. Wade is. Is really a force, but you didn't want him at the free throw line. And. And so that's why D. Duncan was great when he had Mano and Tony. Tony Parker, because they could hit the free throws and so that. That in college, Duke has the. Okay, let's let. We need three straight great possessions. You just give the ball to Cooper Flag and get out of the way. And even Auburn I like, but they have fewer of them because they have two guys that can get a bucket.

[J]

Yeah.

[Colin Cowherd]

Is a lot of these college teams, like, even. Even the good teams like Florida or Houston, you can get into a little bit of man, we've gone four straight possessions. We have not gotten a good look at all.

[J. Mac]

The other concern with Duke is they haven't played a close game in a while. They haven't had, like, down to the wire. They had some earlier this year when Cooper flag was 18, and they ended up losing a couple of those. I think Kansas was one. But I don't really have concerns. I think they shoot free throws great. One of the best free throw shooting teams in the country, like, should be fine.

[Colin Cowherd]

Yeah. My. My guess is I'm going to go Duke Auburn.

[J. Mac]

I'll go Duke Florida.

[Colin Cowherd]

All right. So Herd.

[Rick Bucher]

We live in a divided country, and our media couldn't be more polarizing. That's why we started the Middle with Jeremy Hobson. It's about bringing voices not from the extremes, but from the vast middle into the national conversation. Each week, we hear from ordinary Americans from all over the country. And when you subscribe to the Middle, you also get an episode each week called One Thing Trump did that focuses on just one item from the avalanche of news. Listen to the Middle with Jeremy Hobson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Hobson]

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Hobson]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.