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- [00:00]
Chelsea Handler
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. You can apply for Apple Card right from the Wallet app on your iPhone. Get started in the Wallet app today. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more at applecard.com let's be honest, buying
- [00:22]
Mood.com Advertiser
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- [01:10]
Colin Cowherd
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports radio at noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com 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. Here we go. Got a good one today. It's a Tuesday lives it's the Herd. Wherever you may be, wherever however you may be watching or listening. Appreciate you stopping by today. Good stuff. Nick Wright 1 hour Frank Isola on the Knicks win. The most disrespected franchise in the NBA has to be the Minnesota Timberwolves in the packed Western Conference. They've gone to back to back Western Conference finals. They lead the spurs now with WEMBY 10 and we treat them like the Pelicans. And we said yesterday on the show they actually are kind of built to beat San Antonio. Thick, big, experienced, well coached. They'll get physical. They're a great fourth quarter team and they did it. They won game one in San Antonio and it was a classic T Wolves game. They've been an unbelievable fourth quarter team but they just kind of hung around. San Antonio had been red hot from three point land. They took Them out of their game. And then in the fourth quarter, Ant had 11 points. Julius Randall, the guy's a walking 19 and nine. 12 years in the NBA. Like the T Wolves, not really respected. Clever Mike Conley hit a three. They're just a perfect mix of youth and experience and trunky and physical and long. They're the best team in the NBA in the fourth quarter. Now in the playoffs, they're number one in basically everything. Offensive rating, defensive rating, point differential. And all that is is experience. Plus coaching. And their general manager, Mike Conley, Tim Connolly, he's the one that built Denver into a title team. He left Denver. Have you noticed the Nuggets have overpaid for some players don't have the bench. The Nuggets aren't as good. He goes to Minnesota and like Denver, he has built a roster that actually matches up with everybody in the NBA. And we, we talked about this yesterday. When the playoffs arrive, you got to have a star who can rise above scheme. That's Ant. That he can just put the ball in his hands, make plays because you're, you're playing the best coaches, you're facing the best teams. You can't keep out scheming everybody. And these were excellent rosters. When you watch the Western Conference, it reminds me of the SEC five years ago or the Big Ten now. It's just really good. You get, you get real clarity. You can tell who's good. I don't feel that way in the east. But the T Wolves have been just giant killers the last several years. They beat KD and Booker in Phoenix. They beat Jamal Murray and Jokic two different times. They beat Luka and LeBron and now they got their eyes set on Wemby and they're, they're a nightmare matchup. I was looking this morning. The starting lineup for the T Wolves has a combined 300 playoff games. The Spurs 36. That is a major problem in the fourth quarter because if you watched Wim, they took Wemby out of his game. They had him off balance. He was over eight from three they took away. They have such length and excellent athleticism on the perimeter. San Antonio was eating everybody alive on three point shooting and they just negated. That's why the spurs could not pull away. And if you're San Antonio fan, you do not want these games to be close entering the fourth quarter. That's going to be Minnesota's quarter. They don't have the playoff experience. And if you take Wimby out, Minnesota is actually deeper and better and more physical. So, San Antonio, you got to put Minnesota away quickly. And it's interesting. I mean, even on this show, I mean, I give the Celtics a certain level of respect, And I give OKC respect and I give Denver respect, and everybody gives LeBron respect here. The T Wolves in back to back Western Conference finals with. There's an argument outside of Oklahoma City, it's the deepest roster in the NBA. I mean, they got young kids that weren't even in the rotation now that are flourishing. Number one, fourth quarter team, number two in the regular season. That was a difference last night. And with 11 points, although he did not think he played great down the
- [06:08]
Anthony Edwards
stretch, I'm disappointed in myself.
- [06:12]
Colin Cowherd
How can you be disappointed? We didn't even expect to see you out here tonight.
- [06:16]
Anthony Edwards
How important was it for you to
- [06:17]
Colin Cowherd
be available for your guys in game one?
- [06:19]
Anthony Edwards
For me, man, 75% of the game for me is my mind. My mind got to be where it needs to be.
- [06:23]
Colin Cowherd
And.
- [06:24]
Anthony Edwards
And the last two minutes of the game, it wasn't. I gave up two offensive rebounds, turned the ball over.
- [06:30]
Colin Cowherd
Well, all I know is this. You got guys like Julius Randall, who's been bouncing around the league, and he's the perfect Timberwolf because he's overlooked. And it could be Nas Reed, and it could be Jaden McDaniels. It can be Ant. It can. Rudy Gobert has been getting crap for years. It could be Mike Conley. There's just so much experience and talent with Minnesota. And if these games are close, fourth quarter is the T Wolves between coaching and experience. Okay, so it's. I said this about the Eastern Conference. I mean, through various times this year. I mean, last year, out of the blue, the Pacers fly through it, and. And this year, you're like, detroit's a number one seed. They've got one score. I can't really figure out the East. So I watched the Knicks over their last four games. They've won by 39, 51, 29 and 16. Are they great? I don't really think so. Are they. Are they good? Absolutely. Are they very good? I don't know. Now, the Sixers last night off an emotional game seven against Boston were completely flat. I mean, Jalen Brunson kind of did whatever he wanted to do, scored 35 points, 12 for 18. He just did whatever he wanted to do. I kind of felt like Nick Nurse was just. He knew his team was fatigued. He knew his team was going to be flat, so he didn't give away a lot of secrets. He just kind of let it play out. But I will give the New York Knicks credit for this. So they fired Tibbs because they thought they just weren't good enough offensively. And you got to give Mike Brown credit, okay? They're shooting 60% in their last three games. Mike Brown's not a rigid guy. He is willing to experiment. And what they've done with Cat, Cat now is like a point center. He has doubled his assists, his distribution numbers from regular season to postseason. And a lot of that's just good coaching and. But, but it's difficult. Remember in the super bowl, like, was New England really a good team? We watched the Seahawks and the Rams play and you're like, those are the two best teams in football. But New England got to the super bowl because the easiest schedule in the last 30 years and Bo Nix got hurt for Denver. But if you looked at the Rams and the Seahawks, they went 10 and O against the AFC and the Thunder and the spurs have gone 49 and 11 against the Eastern Conference. So I don't know what the hell to make of the East. Are the Knicks good? Well, I think offensively now that Mike Brown is putting the ball in the hands of Cat up top, I think that's really smart. It's taken some of the heat off Brunson to constantly be the playmaker and to make Cat kind of a score and a distributor. Now you know what they're going to try to do? They're going to have Embiid go after Cat, try to eliminate that, get him into foul trouble. And last night the Knicks bigs, they drew some early fouls. But I will say this, the fatigued Sixers will play better in game two. But when you watch this with the Cat move, Knicks are playing with confidence. It's a totally complimentary, flawed roster, but they play very well together. They've got a little bit better bench, not a great one, but better than the Sixers home court advantage. So, you know, I can watch Minnesota and the Spurs, Oklahoma City and go, those are really high end teams. Maybe I haven't given the Knicks enough credit. I find the Eastern Conference, I mean, Detroit's a number one seed. Is Cleveland good? The Pistons don't have a number two score. Philadelphia, we gave up on him. Are they good? I thought the Celtics were. But I'll say this, using Cat the way they're using him is effective. It's smart. And here he was after the win,
- [10:29]
Anthony Edwards
he just kind of better job as a team executing. And you know, obviously we changed a little bit things up and it's been very good for us. I just love that I get to get my teammates involved and I give it to the chance to quarterback the offense and give them, you know, put them in positions I feel they could succeed and they've obliged. Like I said before, you know, they trust. They're trusting me more with ball right now and I just want to continue to repay their trust with the right plays and making the right decisions.
- [10:54]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I mean, a lot of people say he's the best jump shooting big in basketball. He is a. You remember when Anthony Davis was with the Lakers, he, he was never really comfortable outside. Great defensive player. Cat's not never really comfortable on the deep perimeter, but Cat is. And the fact that like a Jokic, he can distribute double his assist totals, it's like a smart move. And, and when they got rid of Tibbs, I said, what are you doing? You finally got the coach and Mike Brown's been like, experimental, you know, he's been taking some swings and it kind of works. But I go back to. I just don't know. Right. Like, I'm not really sure because all year long we've been looking at the east going, Detroit's good. Wait till Boston gets Tatum. Last year it's like, is Indiana good? I love Halliburton, but so I, I'm one of these viewers of the East. I'm like, I, I will have Frank Isola on here. I mean, there's things they do well, but then I watch, which, by the way, I don't like putting playoff games on at the same time. But I'm watching the spurs in Minnesot like, holy God. Minnesota's athletes and length and size and ant and wow. Then Wemby and I don't know, it's different to me. J. Mac, you've been on the Knicks all year. That's your favorite team. They're on an absolute offensive heater. But a lot of it did feel like Philadelphia. Like, Nick Nurse came out, he just kind of let him play. He wasn't going to give anything away. The game felt over at half. In the second half, it was like they're just out at the. Because the Sixers have no bench. So I mean, like, like a fatigued Sixers team got ugly really fast. I, I think the Sixers gave up, what, 74 points in the first half to the Knicks. You could just tell they were weary
- [12:41]
J. Mac
from the Boston series.
- [12:42]
Colin Cowherd
Thing is, Colin, only a day off between the next game. I think Philly's gotta win that one. I didn't really see anything other than
- [12:49]
J. Mac
hack a Mitchell Robinson that jumped out
- [12:51]
Colin Cowherd
as, as a win for Philadelphia there. They did not look great.
- [12:55]
Anthony Edwards
Yeah.
- [12:56]
Colin Cowherd
All right. You know, we love to, you know, like LeBron, we like to elevate others beyond ourselves. J. Mac, you know, over the last couple of years I've been pretty successful on what they call future bets where you, you pick an over under and you try to guess. You I in the audience tries to guess where the team will finish. We've had great success on this show. I just felt like I was in the mood to give money away. And I want to talk about a couple of teams that one to be very careful of and one to keep your eye on. On today's show, Nick Wright, top of next hour, Frank Isola on the Knicks. I mean, he watches them every night. What are they? We'll see. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Hey, is Cavino and Rich from FO Sports Radio. Now, in addition to hearing us live weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, we're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for the show. Yup, that's right. You can now watch Covino enriched live on YouTube every day. All you got to do, search COVINO and Rich FSR on YouTube again. Go to YouTube. Search COVINO Enrich FSR. Check us out on YouTube. Subscribe, hit that thumbs up icon and comment away.
- [14:20]
Mood.com Advertiser
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- [15:09]
Chelsea Handler
get started this season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler. We have some fantastic guests like Emilia Clarke.
- [15:17]
Colin Cowherd
When, like young people come up to me and they want to be an actor or whatever, my first thing is
- [15:22]
Mood.com Advertiser
always, can you think of anything else
- [15:24]
Colin Cowherd
that you can do?
- [15:26]
Chelsea Handler
Rather be disappointed in. Do that. Dennis Leary.
- [15:31]
Colin Cowherd
I wake up and I'm hitting him in the head with a water bottle and Bruce Jenner is on the aisle in a karate stance like he's about to attack me, like making karate noises. And his entire the Kardashian family over there. Everybody's going to and the air marshal is trying to grab my arms and screaming. And I immediately know that I've been sleepwalking.
- [15:52]
Anthony Edwards
David Oyelowo I love this podcast. Whether it's therapy or relationships or religion or sex or addiction or you just go straight for the guts guy.
- [16:03]
Chelsea Handler
Branham so anyway, Nicole Kidman broke up with Keith Urban.
- [16:07]
Anthony Edwards
Being half of a country couple was always a hat she was gonna wear, not like a life she was gonna lead.
- [16:14]
Chelsea Handler
Oh, interesting. I like that. Did you practice that on your gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things, Tana Mongeau, Camilla Morrone, Carrie, Kenny Silver, and more. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect.
- [16:38]
J. Mac
We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.
- [16:40]
Chelsea Handler
He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.
- [16:51]
Colin Cowherd
Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets meeting the president of Turkey.
- [16:56]
Chelsea Handler
I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.
- [17:02]
J. Mac
When Jacob met Levan, this went to
- [17:05]
Colin Cowherd
a billion dollar fraud.
- [17:06]
Chelsea Handler
But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive?
- [17:13]
J. Mac
The largest tax investigation in American history.
- [17:16]
Chelsea Handler
You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?
- [17:20]
Colin Cowherd
Jacob told Lavon. You're ruining my life.
- [17:24]
Chelsea Handler
Listen to Kingdom of Fraud starting on May 12th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If the world were like a Sleep number mattress, everything would adapt for your comfort. Because as your life changes and your body changes, Sleep number mattresses adapt and shift to give you personalized comfort night after night. And now everything's on sale during our Memorial Day event, save up to $1,200 on mattresses for a limited time. To experience a whole new world of comfort, visit a Sleep Number store or go to sleepnumber.com sleep number to a good life Sleep.
- [18:06]
Colin Cowherd
So I've had, I think it's four or five straight years. I've been able to pick two teams each year that'll double their win total or will be dramatically better. And one of the things I'd always look at is schedule. And I've said this for years. I used to, when I first started paying so much attention like 10, 12 years ago, 15 years ago to the NFL schedule release and people would say, we already know who they're playing. I'm like, yeah, but the order matters. You're not going to beat Andy Reid generally in September, you don't want to play at Denver. What's your quarterback like? What's he like? In cold weather games, do they all stack up late in the season? It matters. A prime example. Last year the Patriots had the easiest schedule in over 20 years and they got to a Super bowl largely because of that schedule. They stayed healthy. You get a home game here or there, Bo Nicks gets hurt. You watch them in the super bowl. Totally outclassed, no business being there. San Francisco 49ers started the year people thought with the easiest schedule, became the second easiest schedule. They go 12 and five the last two times they played the Seahawks, Kyle Shanahan couldn't score a touchdown. They couldn't generate a single touchdown. They weren't really a 12 and 5 team. So the two teams were schedules. This year will play a big factor. Everybody loves Dallas. They're over and unders eight and a half. I would take the under. I would, I would take the under. I think they're 7 and 10, 8 and 9 team. I like their draft, I like their personnel. They, but last year they played the third easiest schedule and won seven games. In their eight games against teams with a winning record, they went one and seven. And if you look at their schedule this year they have their home games. Eagles, Jaguars, Ravens, 49ers. Their road games, Giants, Packers, Texans, Colts, Seahawks, Rams. That, that's not a nine or a ten win team. That, that, that is a brutal schedule last year. Here's the, here's the quarterbacks the Cowboys faced. Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Geno Smith, Josh Johnson. You say, oh, they beat Mahomes. Mahomes ate him for lunch. He had four touchdowns, no pick and 130 passer rating. It wasn't about Mahomes not scoring. Mahomes moved, played as well as he did in any game all season. So the reality with the Cowboys is I do like, I think their roster is better than we give it credit for, but their schedule is brutal and they've not shown an ability with Brian Schottenheimer to win against better quarterbacks consistently. Okay? Now here's the opposite is the Detroit Lions, who I think upgraded massively at offensive coordinator. So they're over and under is ten and a half. You're like whoa, never forget because they got a, they got a fourth place schedule, right? They got home games against the Saints, Bucks, jets and Titans. Road games against the Falcons, Dolphins and Cardinals. This morning I got the seven wins and I wasn't even worried about their, their division. So in Minnesota could be bad. So my point is if you look at the Cowboys, you're like, oh, I like what they're doing. You got to check schedules. Only one other team in the NFL has a schedule that will increase in difficulty more than Dallas. And here's Detroit. Everybody's selling their Detroit stock. Great GM culture, ceterate coach a quarterback, excellent skill, solve their left tackle issue in a cupcake schedule relative to the NFL average. Bet the under on the Cowboys. Believe it or not, Detroit at 11 and 6 if they go 500 in division and and I think they'll do better than that is one of the better over bets at 10 and a half. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the iHeartRadio app. Thanks for listening to the Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and noon to 3 Eastern, 9am to noon Pacific. Find your local station for the herd@foxsportsradio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Now let's get this party started. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Good stuff today. It's a Tuesday. Bulls have a new gm, Knicks hammer the Sixers, Wemby and the Spurs. Tough matchup with Minnesota Nick right around the corner. So the Lakers Thunder play tonight. LeBron is a 15 point underdog. Colin, it's not LeBron, it's the Lakers. That's LeBron. He's a 15 point underdog, biggest of his career. Yeah, we were talking about about this yesterday. He can kind of play as long as he wants. He's such a play initiator. He's so smart. The question is this is why I think JJ Redick is a great coach for him because JJ's authentic. He doesn't have a filter. He's going to give you the truth if he, if he's upset with LeBron. LeBron respects him. And LeBron's always been that. LeBron likes smart people. His handlers are smart, his agent smart. His friends are smart. He likes JJ Redick. He likes smart people because LeBron doesn't have a lot of interest in playing with kids and teaching them how to play basketball. He loves Kevin Love or Chris Bosh or D. Wade, you know, he likes that. And very few young players he really likes playing with. And I think J.J. redick is authentic. There's no filter. But I think what's fascinating about LeBron is. And let's start with this. Mike Breen was on Ryan Rossillo's podcast yesterday, and what he says sounds outrageous, but I think Mike Breen is right, and he talked about LeBron's career going forward.
- [24:06]
Anthony Edwards
The guy's been an NBA player more than half of his life, which is kind of hard to believe. And I do believe he could play for another. He's 41. He could play for another eight, nine years, and, like, he could come off the bench and average 18 minutes a game and give you 12, 7 and 5. I think he's. Because of his mind, his brilliant basketball mind, he could still do that.
- [24:34]
Colin Cowherd
I actually think. I thought more four to five. I don't think it's outrageous. We've said before, some usually hyper athletic athletes age quickly. Cam Newton, people like Jokic, where it's passing and screen setting and rebounding and shooting, you just age better. LeBron's very unique in that. You get both of them. You get. I mean, he still attacks the basket in transition. He bullies smaller defenders, generates very good shots. His jumpers always been hit and miss. So he didn't have a great year shooting the three. But his. His jump shot's been hit and miss, his free throw shot. He's not a naturally soft, fluid shooter. He's very muscular. And a lot of bigger players. Larry Bird was an exception, where you had a big forward who was the best shooter in the league. That's very, very rare. And so my take is, for LeBron going forward, it's a mind game. He's been a CEO for 20 years. He has a better resume than Rui Luca and Austin Reaves combined. And now you're going to ask him going forward, hey, CEO with the best resume and most brilliant mind, are you willing to just be an advisor? Are you willing to be a third option? So I think it's all mental going forward. I don't really worry about the physicality stuff. I really don't. Is that, you know, Tom Brady aged, but nobody said, okay, Tom, you're the backup quarterback or we're going to have you place backup tight ender on special teams. He was still the quarterback taking the snaps for LeBron. What you're saying with Luca, who's the number one usage rate guy in the league? It's LeBron, are you going to play off ball a lot? And LeBron's thinking, I'm in better shape than this guy. I'm stronger than this guy. I generate great shots like this guy. And he's a better player than Austin Reaves, who's a very good player. So I think there's a mind game going forward for LeBron. It's not the physical stuff. We all think it's the physical stuff, it's the mental stuff. Is he willing to be a third option when he's thinking, I just beat Houston largely by myself. I made Marcus Smart look nine years younger. Deandre Ayton Moody. Deandre Ayton was totally focused. I mean, Rui, who's always had talent, flourished. LeBron's thinking, you sure you want me to be a third option? But I do think LA for business. And JJ Redick, the intellect, unfiltered, honest, secure with himself, long contract. I, I think Reddick's a perfect coach for him. He's just a perfect coach. With that Nick Wright, first things first is joining us. You know, the first rounds. I said this yesterday, Nick, is that in the history. If they write the book on LeBron and there's 20 chapters, this may not even make the book the Houston series. And I'm like, folks, you don't want to forget this because what we just witnessed was a far deeper, younger, athletic, I mean Jabari Smith and Jen Goon and Amen Thompson. You're like, yeah, what I mean, I look at it and I'm like, this is like fourth, fifth chapter, like the early LeBron peak. LeBron and whatever the hell.
- [27:47]
J. Mac
I just watched LeBron and yeah, and I'm so, I'm as a sports fan and obviously a LeBron fan, I'm so grateful we got this chapter. You're right, Colin. It wouldn't be in the, you know, first 50 pages of his book. Even though it was a series where in the game that essentially won the series in a 90 minute span, he threw an alley oop to his son and then had the steal and game tying three. And then after everybody was like getting a little chesty in Houston. Oh, they're tired. We have the momentum. All of that LeBron put on a 40 minute, 28, 7 and 8 masterclass. Controlling every aspect of the game and controlling every aspect of the series. And it also gave us, Colin, two real gifts, one sports fans and one media fan. So let me just tell you those real quick before we move on. First one is, listen, I'm bummed Luka's hurt, but had Luka not been hurt, we might not have ever gotten one more series where LeBron, hand on the joystick, follow me, guys. All control everything. And it was so gratifying to be able to watch that. Watch him figure out the series early, adjust late, and then close it. And when he was in that Swiss army knife role, we wouldn't have gotten that. So without the Luke injury, that wouldn't have been there. So that was just fun. If it is, that could be the last playoff series win of his career. Right? Any of these could be. So for that. And then from a media perspective, if I may, just quickly, it was really delightful watching the progression of folks who have been, let's call it LeBron skeptics. Most of their television careers, starting the series when they thought the Lakers had no chance. They were like, well, if LeBron pulls this off, then fine, maybe he's the goat, but they're getting swept. And then three days later they're like, you know what? The Rockets are just awful. Anybody could beat them. And then three days after that, when it looked like the Rockets might come back, they were like, you know what? I think this Rockets team can pull off the first ever 30 comeback. What a stain on LeBron. And then when they win, it just immediately goes to. We'll see him do it against okc. Just a full tour de force of cope, which I really enjoyed from afar.
- [30:32]
Colin Cowherd
That was good. It's so true. So we're going to get to Wemb, but I want to talk about Celtics is that I have struggled over here figuring the east out. I mean, Detroit's a number one seed. Are they a six in the West? I don't even know. Last year, the Pacers with Halliburton, you're like, are they the best team? And then the Celtics hung around without Tatum, even though they're not very athletic and Jaylen Brown's good, but they don't. They need, like more athleticism. So I don't even know how good the Knicks are, but I said the Celtics losing is great because I don't think tanking's the end of the world. I think it's a uniquely loaded draft and about nine teams need a star the warriors by the way could do a Dallas get the BYU sensation and it would solve a lot of problems. But of the 11 three point shooting teams, one remains and sport should be like a well balanced meal. Little protein, little carbs, little vegetables. I didn't like the tush push. It got less effective. Good for the league. The Celtics were the new face of the three point shot and they embarrassed themselves shooting seven of them with three and a half minutes left trailing by one. And you've never been a Boston believer. I have been more so. But what was your take on the way it ended? The ridiculousness of the dependent on the 3.
- [31:54]
J. Mac
So well listen, and you're right that historically I've not been a Boston believer right up until this post season when I picked him to win the title. And then they go out like that. So that wasn't great for me. But so here is the thing I totally agree with where you're headed, which is stylistically everyone playing the same style would be bad for the health of the sport. Additionally, the fact that that style is one that minimizes the importance of athleticism, aggression and dunking on people's head and maximizes the importance of three point specialist, it's just bad for a TV product. That's why the tush push comp is a good one. It's just bad television. And so I am glad that even if it was just bad luck that it didn't end up working out because we don't want everyone playing the same way. First of all, and there is absolutely and you are seeing it every single night in the playoffs two different ways. You need to be able to win in this league. You need to be able to build a team and that can sustain an 82 game season comfortably, make the playoffs, have a decent seed and you need to have a team that can win possession, battle playoff games and very often that means get to the damn rim, go get a foul, pull up, jump shot. And it's really interesting Boston under Missoula because it's been four years. The second they coasted to a championship that banner hangs forever. But year one they struggled mightily in round one. They were down three two in round two and then they were down three zero in the conference finals to an eight seed and lost. The third year they blew back to back 20 point leads against the Knicks.
- [34:04]
Colin Cowherd
Yep.
- [34:05]
J. Mac
And this year they they blow a 31 lead against a Sixers team that granted finally got healthy at the end of the year. But you wouldn't have been been in that position had you Taken care of business earlier. And so I think that if I'm Boston, if I'm running the team, I do. I have two major questions this summer. One is, is Jalen Brown a piece we should move? Does he even want to? Does he? When he says, this was the best, most fun I've ever had in any year of my career. And it's like, really? You guys went out in round one and your co star was injured all year. That's not great. And the other one is, do we need to turn the throttle down a bit on the 3 point variance? Are we underselling how talented we are and our ability to beat teams kind of straight up rather than adding so much randomness to games?
- [35:05]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, no, yeah. Listen, I. And I also, frankly, just don't like math. Deciding sports, I always say. Manha.
- [35:11]
J. Mac
Yes.
- [35:12]
Colin Cowherd
Like, last night's a great example. I want to shift to this. Minnesota, their GM built Denver a team that could kind of beat anybody. He leaves, it's not the same roster. Overpaid in a couple players, goes to Minnesota. And I said it yesterday, I'm like, guys, they're a tough matchup for San Antonio. Julius Randle is the kind of guy that can give Wemby problems, get him off balance, bully him. I mean, he's like 250. He's like Zach Randolph, 255 of muscle, and he's just a lot. And you may not love him in the three point analytic world. Julius Randle's a hell of a basketball player. And I'm watching that series last night, and I'm like, offensively, they got Wemby totally off his game. And I'm like, I don't think that was fourth quarter. You know who. If this game's tied in the fourth, Minnesota's gonna win every time. And I think, I think, I think San Antonio's in a bit of a. I think they're in a little bit of trouble.
- [36:08]
J. Mac
Oh, I think it's more than a little bit of trouble. I think there's. I. So I think there's a lot to unpack here. First of all, remember the big argument that we, not you and I had, but that was being had when Wimby was like, hey, defense is 50% of the game. Well, then I get. Then I guess last night's game from Wemby is right Alongside Michael Jordan. 63 point playoff lost too, right? 12 blocks. Never seen anything like it. But 12 blocks with minimal offensive impact, and all of a sudden the team's beatable. You have one of the greatest defensive performances any players had since Wilt Chamberlain in the playoffs. And your team loses because you can't get enough buckets. That's first point. Second point is this. You were talking Julius Randle. There is no player in the league more prepared to give Wimby trouble than Rudy. Rudy's known him since he was a kid. He is the second longest guy in the league to Wimby and he's so much stronger than him. And so it is a very interesting chess match right now, which is this. Colin.
- [37:14]
Colin Cowherd
We.
- [37:14]
J. Mac
When Rudy is on the court, both teams offenses are going to struggle. The, the, the Timberwolves offense will struggle because when Rudy's on the court, Wimy doesn't have to guard anybody out on the perimeter. He can just patrol the rim. And the spurs offense is going to struggle because when Rudy's on the court, Wimy can only be out on the perimeter offensively because Rudy can keep him out of the paint. And then when you take Rudy off the court like they did in the fourth quarter, all of a sudden Wimby's got to guard the perimeter. Now you can get to the rim. And so if Anthony Edwards is just going to get healthier and all of a sudden Terrence Shannon Jr. Looks like the second fastest player in the league to maxi. They're going to keep coming at you with Nas Reed and Julius Randle. Jaden McDaniels was in foul trouble the whole game and they were fine. Minnesota had, they lost last night. If it had been stolen, like if they had blown it at the end, I think that's a very, very tough one to get over. But they escaped even though they kind of screwed up down the stretch. I think right now they're the favorites in the series. I think right now Minnesota is the favorite. I know they're not literally, I think they are the favorite in the series.
- [38:27]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, I said earlier the most disrespected pro sports franchise in the league. They've been to back to back Western Conference finals. They match up with everybody and we treat them like the Pelicans. It's like guys, the coaching, the experience, they're the best fourth quarter team left in.
- [38:40]
J. Mac
The coaching is unbelievable. Chris Finch is great and Anthony Edwards is just. And this goes back to your three point shooting thing. You know what people like watching Anthony Edwards trying to dunk on people.
- [38:54]
Colin Cowherd
Thank you.
- [38:55]
J. Mac
Naked aggression. That is, that is one of the cool things about the NBA. So if Adam Silver is not going to take my free advice from two years ago, which is don't change the court, don't get rid of the corner three. All you got to do is say hey guess what? Dunks also worth three points. Now go get it fellas. If you're not going to do that then then it is probably good to have some of the three point shooting teams clipped in the playoffs.
- [39:21]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, I want to end with this. I've said then I think Mike Brown deserves a lot of credit. Making Cat a point center was brilliant. He's doubled his assist totals. It takes some of the heat off Brunson to have to create everything. So I think first of all coaching first three games of the Hawks series you're like Quinn Snyder's changing the series. Since then Mike Brown has done really good job. Cat's always been an incredibly skilled little flaky, a little odd, but incredibly skilled big. And now their offense looks different. But I struggle with the Knicks because I said this earlier. Last year, suddenly the Pacers were great. Or were they? This year it's the Pistons or are they People love the Cavs. I don't like them. I'm like, I don't know what to make of the Knicks. They're like a really good football team in a bad conference. What do I make of what the Knicks are doing?
- [40:15]
J. Mac
Well, so I couldn't believe our great stats guy Josh told me this this morning. I could not believe it. The The Knicks last three games, yeah, they won all of them by 25 plus. That's never happened in the history of the NBA in the playoffs. Think about but think about that. So like think about all the walkover round one sweeps. The Shaq Kobe Lakers or the Steph Durant warriors or the MJ Bulls or the LeBron Heat have never once did they have three straight 25 point victories. So the fact that they have done that makes me. You have to sit up and take notice. Last night I did, you know I picked yesterday and again my finals was Celtics over Nuggets. So take it for what you will. I it's pretty rare you don't have either finalists make it out around one. But I said I thought the Sixers if they're healthy, will win the series. But I expected them to lose last night because the 3:1 comeback, the emotion of game seven. Yeah, but they didn't just lose, they got curb stomped. And the Knicks right now are in the midst of the best four game stretch of basketball they've had. I mean honestly, maybe of my lifetime. And so you have to take them seriously. I do wonder, you know, as the series evolves if they're going to be able to keep Maxi in check if Embiid looks better in the next game. But I do think this, and I would imagine everyone with respect to the Pistons, I think everyone probably agrees with this. The winner of this series will be a big favorite in the conference finals. Yes, I feel like this, the winner of whoever gets through this series will represent the east in the NBA Finals, which might very well be against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Like that is on the board that with that, Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves get all the way to the finish line here.
- [42:18]
Colin Cowherd
Finally, much to the chagrin of JMac, Brett Veach said Mahomes is way ahead of schedule and everybody loves to bury. You know, everybody loves to bury and I always say in the NFL it's pretty simple is your owner, your gm, your coach and your quarterback. A's, you're competitive now, you may have a down year, you lose a tackle. But they addressed all of it in the draft. Just some thoughts on Mahomes being ahead of schedule.
- [42:45]
J. Mac
Well, I have a lot of thoughts also. Speaking of J. Mac Shout out. I don't know if you saw this on Twitter a couple weeks ago, Colin Shout out to Patrick Mahomes not only being one of the two greatest quarterbacks ever to live in, the best quarterback currently playing, but also such a gracious good sport as he shook J. Mack's hand after, I don't know, a half decade of J. Mac burying him at every, every chance he gets. I thought it was a great job by Patrick there. Now on the Chiefs I am, I've been saying for months, Patrick Mahomes is going to be dancing at Travis Kelsey's wedding and he's going to be starting in week one and I think he is on track to do both of those things. And anybody that thinks that any time in NFL history where you have an A plus quarterback and an A plus coach and a smart front office that you're about to enter the wilderness of a rebuild. I just show it to me where it's happened. Danny on overtime yesterday had Kenneth Walker on I do think the most important off season addition was the fact that the Chiefs are now going to have a running game you have to respect. They are tied Colin with the Jets. I think it's the jets, but they are, they are tied for the longest streak of seasons without a thousand yard rusher. They've never had a thousand yard back Patrick's whole career. Now you're gonna have to respect the run game. Listen, I color me crazy but I do think the team that has been to five of the last eight Super Bowls is gonna be okay. But I guess we'll see.
- [44:20]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah. Good senior.
- [44:22]
J. Mac
Very, very well.
- [44:23]
Colin Cowherd
Good energy. First things first.
- [44:25]
J. Mac
Might have been five of seven. Actually, I think I undersold the Chiefs. I think it's five of the last seven. They all run together so much, they've won three of something like that.
- [44:34]
Colin Cowherd
I don't know.
- [44:34]
J. Mac
Talk to you later.
- [44:35]
Colin Cowherd
It's hard to keep track. Nick, first things first after our show. Yeah, it's the two, the two off season moves. I love Kenneth Walker to the Chiefs, Tyler Linderbaum to the Raiders. Those feel like they'll produce wins.
- [44:52]
Chelsea Handler
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.