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Colin Cowherd (2:13)

True on the field.

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Colin Cowherd (2:43)

Good.

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and discuss screening options and the next steps. It's easy.

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Try for free@wasabi.com, wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, proud partner of the Volume Podcast Network. 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.

Jason Temp (3:53)

Now let's get this.

Colin Cowherd (3:55)

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. We've got some fascinating stories and my guy host of Hoops tonight, Jason Temp at the Volume is joining us live. Okay, so we were talking about this earlier that I would vote Wemby MVP and I think if Luca was a marginal defensive player to solid, I think he'd have a much better say. But he is such a liability there despite his brilliance. I think Wemby and you've pointed this out, Wemby's not only historic defensively and I want you to talk about this but he does stuff offensively that doesn't he doesn't get a ton of credit for and I want you to So I don't know where you'd have Wemby in the MVP stuff, but talk about what he does beyond just the blocks and the intimidation.

Jason Temp (4:43)

So I think that it's A two man race. Right now. I think there's four guys that are relatively close. I think Luka and Jokic have both had great seasons. I just think there's a clear line of demarcation there between them and the top two guys. To me, I'd still have Shea at number one for now. I just think he's got a great case to potentially be considered the best player in the world. The best player on the best team in the world. And there's clear value stuff with Shay. The offense is ten and a half points better per 100 possessions. When he's on versus off. He said 52 clutch shots. Colin, he hit three more last night against the Pistons. Three for three. You get a close game with OKC, it's just like good luck. Shea's gonna hit every single shot he takes down the stretch. Let's see if you can win. So I think he's got the MVP for right now, but if the spurs can pass OKC in the standings, which is an absolute possibility, OKC's got some tough games on the schedule. They play the Lakers twice and you know, the Lakers are playing really well. Luca would love to make his late MVP push. I've actually joked I don't think Luca can win mvp, but I think he can win it for Wemby by knocking Shay down a peg. They've got a game with the Suns on the schedule, so the OKC is not in control of that one seed left and that yet. And that kind of brings us to this spurs case. It's fascinating because there's a lot of people that are pointing to his minutes totals. He hasn't played a ton, right? But Colin, in the minutes that he's been on the floor, he has quite possibly been the most impactful per minute player we've ever seen. The spurs are plus 645 when he's on the floor this season and minus 27 when he's off.

Colin Cowherd (6:21)

That's incredible.

Jason Temp (6:21)

He's. He's like a hundredth in the league in total minutes played. They're negative with him off and yet they're threatening for the number one overall seed because of how dominant he's been when he's on the floor. Now everybody knows how good he is defensively, that that's been talked to death. But I think people are a little paralyzed by his counting stats. On the offensive end of the floor. He averages 24 and a half points per game on offense, three assists per game. That pales in comparison to the scoring volume you're Seeing from Shai and Luka and the assist numbers you see from Jokic. Right. But the thing that I always point back to is the spurs as a team, despite being surrounded by a bunch of young, flawed guards, not a single other player that anybody would consider to be a top 25 player in the NBA other than WEMBY. They are an elite offense when he's on the floor. And the specific way you see this manifest is they generate a ton of great threes and they knock them down at a great percentage. In fact, the spurs generate the most corner threes ever in the history of the NBA. The reason why is when Wemby rolls to the rim, he's so fast and he is such a big easy target to hit with those lob passes that teams have no choice but to throw the kitchen sink out of him right at him when he's rolling to the basket. Specifically, they're constantly pulling off the corners to do what they call tagging, which is basically throw bodies in front of Wemby so that he can't roll to the basket and then they just kick it to the corner and they get wide open three after wide open three after wide open three. It actually reminds me a lot of Stephen in the sense that people think Steph is declining. And don't get me wrong, he's not putting up the individual scoring numbers that he used to. But the warriors offense is still scoring at an extremely high rate when he's on the floor. Because when Steph runs around in circles, he draws so much attention off ball. The guys get layups and dunks. So for the spurs it's a little different because it's more at the three point line. But Wendy's overall offensive impact is far greater than just his points per game numbers or how many assists per game he averages.

Colin Cowherd (8:23)

So people know you initially as the Laker guy and I've said before is that I think offensively in the half court they're gifted, they're beautiful, they're aesthetically pleasing. The passing, the shot creation. They don't have a lot of catch and shoot guys which they need, but they have the guys that need the ball in their hand and they're great finishers. I don't think that plays as well in the playoffs. But Houston doesn't have a pure point. I made this argument. Many of Lucas biggest games are against teams that don't have a dominant score that he would have to stop. Houston. Amen. Thompson's not a great offensive player. The Pistons, Detroit without Kate Cunningham, Houston, but Sga and Stefan Castle, Jamal Murray, the four teams in the west that are of Laker quality all have a guy that Luca would have to defend. And my guess is those coaches would hunt Luca. So I think the Lakers are deceptive. I think they are so hard to defend in the regular season, but I think actually they've got some defensive liabilities that are easy to hunt in the postseason. Am I being too cynical and too negative? LA no.

Jason Temp (9:41)

I think the things that you're explaining are why they're not on the same level as San Antonio or okc. I think that's fair. I've always talked about this on my show. Like your big picture defensive metrics don't matter at all. When you get to the postseason, it suddenly becomes comes can you guard that team? Not can you guard a 104 defensive rating over a 20 game span? Because there's a lot of noise in there. Bad teams, guys miss threes. There's a lot of different things that can go wrong there. What happened in the postseason last year when they ran into Minnesota was like they couldn't guard Ant, they couldn't guard Julius, they couldn't guard Nas, so they had to throw multiple bodies at them and they conceded threes to a Minnesota team that's very good at shooting threes and they made them or they started trapping Ant at the end of the series. Then what happened? Rudy Gobert had like the best game of his life because he was just dunking every single miss underneath the basket. So like there's no doubt that the Lakers are going to have to concede something in the postseason. They don't have the personnel to just contain everything. So my guess is they'll concede a lot of threes to role players and they're going to have to live with the results there. That said, like, I don't think we can possibly overstate how good they've been. Post All Star break when LeBron Austin and Luca are on the floor Post All Star 373 minutes, which is a very large sample. They're outscoring teams by 17 points per 100 possessions. Do you remember earlier when I said Wemby was having the greatest per minute impact that we've seen in forever? It's plus 17 per 100 possessions. So the Lakers big three has been as dominant as the numbers as I've been talking about with Wemby. That's how good they've been. So like what that where that lands for me is they're clearly a puncher's chance threat, they are capable of beating anybody. Because if those three guys are all clicking on offense and your role players happen to miss threes, you're just going to lose to this Lakers team. So they're a threat against anybody. But the sustainability of their success on a game in, game out basis in the postseason I think puts them a clear level below San Antonio and okc. To me, they're like tied with Denver as like the third best team in the Western Conference.

Colin Cowherd (11:42)

So I want to go to college basketball is that John Shire's obviously a very good recruiter, smart guy, his schemes are respected. But I do think when you're at Duke, the one downside to Duke is that you're able to land three to four or five star guys in a class, right? And what happens is you're really young. And I thought against UConn, whereas Hurley had older players. And sometimes when you have older players, you just. Phil Jackson, you know, let guys play through the chaos, just, just let them go. Which is easy if you've got a staff or an older Chris Paul or a Connecticut team or Michigan's got older players. But when you got five star 18 year olds and it's chaotic, it's like, call timeout. I thought Shire should have called a timeout. I thought, I thought this was a bit of underwhelming coaching. How did you see it?

Jason Temp (12:38)

So, you know, it's so funny, Colin. That whole final sequence was so chaotic that I think you could play the results in any direction in the sen sense that like if Aiden Boozer gets that pass off, Duke wins. Right. At one point it looked, it looked like Dan Hurley was trying to call a timeout when his team got the steal at one point in the sideline, if you look, he points over to the ref and it looks like he was trying to call timeout. Like that could have blown the game winner. There's a bunch of different ways that that position, possession could have gone in any direction. So like, it's one of those things where, yeah, I'd probably call a timeout if I saw a player panicking. But they had an advantage. There were two players open up the floor. I just, it could have gone either way. I feel like we're playing the results a little bit. The one thing that I'll say about the young talent piece, because I've been thinking a lot about this with respect to nil. Arizona's got three freshmen that are great, that are carrying the team through this tournament and you know, you know, Missions guys got some older players, but they also have some younger players. There's a certain amount of like you can have a lot of talent but you still have to build a basketball team. And one of the reasons why I think Arizona is so good, we think about their three bigs and, and they're, you know, Braden buries this guy who's going to be a lottery pick. But it's also they've got great guards, great bigs and wings that can shoot and defend. Like ultimately they're a full complete basketball team. I remember when I watched Duke in that first round game, the first thing I saw right away against the 16 seed is I'm like, okay, Cam Boozer is really good, but he's not super, super dominant. His brother might be their best guard. He looked like the, one of the best players in the game. And Saar can defend a little bit. And then from there it didn't seem like they were very talented. And ultimately Duke looked like a clear level below Michigan and Arizona to me from the start of this tournament. And so you can have the nil money like Arkansas, great example, they had so much talent. The most expensive nil roster in the country, right? But you watch them play and it's like, oh, they're really thin and they can't guard and they can't handle big burly front lines. So like it doesn't matter what you build in terms of talent, you still ultimately to win basketball games have to build a complete basketball team.

Colin Cowherd (14:44)

Finally, AJ DebonSA. Now it feels like the kind of because of Darren Peterson's injuries and you know, the concerns about durability and stuff. So the BYU star looks like the number one player for somebody that loves the NBA and doesn't watch a ton of college basketball. And maybe it's only seen in bits and pieces. You watch both but you also, you follow the draft very closely. It's a stacked draft. Who is his comp? Who would he remind? An NBA fan of the BYU star.

Jason Temp (15:14)

So the big difference, everybody sees DebonSA and they think big, wiry score and that's going to put you in the frame of mind of like most recently guys like Brandon Miller or like Kevin Durant. You think like slender, lots of pull up jump shots and don't get me wrong, like Devonsa has that in his game. Like there's a version of him that's going to be a guy who could shoot 40% from three and take all sorts of off the dribble jump shots and score from the mid range and do all of that. The big difference between DebonSA and those guys, and why I'm so excited about him is he is one of the most ferocious attackers of the basketball that I've ever seen. For a player of his height, this is a guy that is always playing downhill, always playing off of two feet. His counter moves are always towards the basket. He was getting to the rim in congested college spacing seven times a game this year and very efficient when he got there. This is not like you watch the Kevin Durant, Brandon Miller archetype. They weren't getting to the rim like this. That's the big difference. And so when you talk about those slender scoring forwards tend to be susceptible to variants like are they making their shots tonight? Are they getting pushed around tonight? Right. Debons is going to have such a higher floor because he's such a relentless attacker of the basket. So, like, to me, he's a clear number one overall pick. Peterson, obviously there's the upside. If his off the dribble creation and his athleticism were a little underplayed this year because of his injuries, we'll see there. You could argue he has a higher ceiling potentially as like this evolutionary Ray Allen, Anthony Edwards hybrid kind of crazy guard, but there's just too many question marks there for me to pass on a guy like A.J. devon.

Colin Cowherd (16:47)

So, Jason Temp, who's tonight at the volume. As always, buddy, good talking to you.

Jason Temp (16:54)

See you next time. Colin.

Colin Cowherd (16:55)

You bet the. You know, by the way, J. Mac, I didn't get Jaden Ivy. Was it kind of broke yesterday. I had my take. I haven't asked years. This would usually, you know, a lot of times you do Herdline News, but it was kind of the lead story today.

J Mac (17:10)

Listen, it's a dicey topic. I did it on my podcast. Yeah, well, I largely agree with you. Like, listen, we live in a society right now where you just can't say whatever the hell you want. You just can't. You're putting yourself at risk, your family and of getting canceled by one side or the other. You could believe whatever you want, but announcing it to the world, you really need to do that. And all the stuff that was going on with him. He's done a lot of videos over the last three days.

Colin Cowherd (17:34)

Colin? Yeah.

J Mac (17:35)

I don't know if you watched him. Yeah, he obviously went through some stuff in his childhood that he like was unloading. It was almost like a therapy session. And I, I just hope if, if, if I'm going down one of those rabbit holes and popping off on social media, you'll Call me up and be like, hey, dude, just put down the phone, get off the device. You don't need this.

Colin Cowherd (17:53)

One of my takes was, where's his best friend?

J Mac (17:56)

Like, best friend, agent, manager, mom, dad, sibling, like, anyone? Like, seriously?

Colin Cowherd (18:01)

No, I got, I got a hold of somebody from Purdue and I got a hold of somebody in the NBA who I trust. And I just said, I looked at some videos online and I'm like, he's had some injuries, been a little underwhelming, and what I heard from two different sources who would know who I trust was, you know, at Purdue, he was a guy that sometime he was really into the gym and he was really intense, but he didn't always connect with a lot of people. And I mean, Detroit drafted him as a top five pick and bailed after a couple years. And Detroit is just starved for scores and guard play. And that was the first sign where it's like, wait a minute, Detroit in. Detroit wanted it to work desperately. They wanted to find somebody to play with Cade Cunningham. They needed another athletic score. Desperate for that, and they moved off. Okay, that. You don't move off in a couple of years. Lottery picks who are athletic, like, who are really talented. The Herds going to Fox Sports app next on FS1, the World cup qualifier. Italy versus Bosnia Herzegovina. We're getting close. J Max.

J Mac (19:21)

Hey, how about Italy winning, getting into the World Cup? It's been a minute. They gotta, they gotta get a little bit better. They haven't been great. We still probably should follow up on the USA Belgium game from over the weekend. Or is that a sore subject around here?

Colin Cowherd (19:34)

No, it's not a sore subject. Listen, I want Team USA to do well, but sometimes soccer fan can be a little annoying. They play Portugal tonight. For the record, start her. Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd. Weekdays at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific.

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Colin Cowherd (22:24)

True on the field.

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Colin Cowherd (22:30)

Yeah.

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Colin Cowherd (22:53)

Good.

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Colin Cowherd (23:47)

I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwain.

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Colin Cowherd (23:57)

Okay, I lied.

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So take that AT and T or

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Colin Cowherd (24:33)

whenever we lose, it's always the coach's fault. We never just go, we don't have enough good players. And one of the interesting kind of dynamics of this team is Pulisic, who is our number one score most skill of any attacker we have. He is just a player that when he's got his, his foot on the ball, great things happen. He can take over games. He's just, he is our lethal goal scorer. At any moment if, if he gets the ball and we don't have a lot. I mean, Weston McKinney's obviously a very good player. We may not be as good in gold as previous United States men's national teams, but we, you know, historically, this is one of the only times in my life, maybe the only time I think we have enough offensive minded, offensively skilled players that we can go toe to toe with almost any country. But you know, if we lose and we don't play well, well, it's always the coach and it's not always the coach. This is the first team, that Team USA that I remember where I think we can play an aggressive style against maybe all but two or three teams in the world like, and that' not been the case. We had to be more like Italy, which is you win one, nothing. You know, you can attack in spurts, but by and large you play the Argentinas, England's, Germany's, Netherlands. You, you, you, you have to play kind of a defensive style to not get burned, keep it close late and then maybe get a set piece and win. But it, it is the pulisic dynamics fascinating because you know, he is now a star in his own right playing overseas and there's questions about chemistry and that dynamic. So I think it's a fascinating American team, a skilled and fascinating team and they're trying to kind of find themselves and it feels like, is it too late?

J Mac (26:19)

Yeah, we'll win the group stage for sure. Lock that up and then we'll see after that how the matchups shake out. I like our chances. Obviously the Belgium result was, was not a good one. Portugal tonight, no Ronaldo, it looks like he's, he's nursing an injury. Portugal still stacked of course. So yeah, I just like to see a good showing and like you said, more offense because ultimately against the heavyweights, the Netherlands, you know, those we're going to need to score goals. We can't play. Like, remember that England game in the last World Cup. Just heavy defense. That's not going to get you where you need to get.

Colin Cowherd (26:52)

Yeah, yeah. J. Mac with the news.

Jason Temp (26:56)

No, no, no.

Aaron Glenn (26:57)

Heard on the news.

Colin Cowherd (26:58)

This is the Herd line news.

J Mac (27:01)

Lakers rolled last night. Colin did not have Luka. They smoked the Washington wizards. Nobody scored 83 for the Lakers, but LeBron had a triple double and J.J. redick afterward decided to talk about Luka, who didn't play anyway because the MVP is all anybody cares about right now.

J.J. Redick (27:19)

If we continue to finish the season the way we're we're playing right now, that he continues to play that way. To me he is the mvp.

Colin Cowherd (27:29)

But

J.J. Redick (27:31)

sometimes there's recency bias and sometimes there's the bias of a certain stretch of the season. You know, I think when we started 15 and 4, you could have made an argument that he was the mvp, that he's been the MVP for two of the three segments of the season. But again, I've said this all year. You know, our. Our losses are like. They're just so loud.

Colin Cowherd (27:52)

It. Yeah, that's true.

J Mac (27:55)

I mean, by the way, do you want to guess who has the most 30 point games in the NBA this season? Luca, you want to guess who has the most 40 point games in the NBA this season?

Colin Cowherd (28:05)

Luca.

J Mac (28:06)

Who's leading the league in scoring? Okay, I could just do this all day. He's tr. He's so good. Remember the.

Colin Cowherd (28:12)

Remember when he.

J Mac (28:12)

He was getting chided as. I don't remember who was doing it. I don't know if you recall who was doing it. Overweight. Luca, he's not dunking. He looks slow. Well, like, I mean, the guy is. He's. He's just ridiculous.

Colin Cowherd (28:22)

Yeah, he shoots a lot. You score a lot when you shoot a lot.

J Mac (28:25)

He shoots a lot. Hey, big one tonight against the Cavs, Okay. Because the Nuggets are getting hot. They've won six straight. They're right on the Lakers heels.

Colin Cowherd (28:32)

Yes, the Nuggets are getting hot.

J Mac (28:34)

So Lakers have Cavs and then okc. This big week for the Lakers. I have a feeling you're going to have some big feelings if they lose. And if they win. Well, yeah, besides the Cavs, I wait

Colin Cowherd (28:47)

for the result before I build my

J Mac (28:48)

show with the Lakers, obviously. Obviously. All right, let's go to the NFL and Minnesota Vikings. This JJ McCarthy thing is just. It's not looking great. It's looking like one of my bigger whiffs of the NFL. Last year, they go out and get Kyler Murray and, oh, by the way, Carson Wentz. Well, Colin, Kevin o' Connell gave, like, this expansive quote about what's going on in the quarterback room. I'll let you decipher what the heck KOC is talking about right here.

Kevin O'Connell (29:14)

We've played three guys in one of one year. We've played four in another. We just feel like having the ability to get quality quarterback play throughout the circumstances that we do not. We do not control throughout the season. Gives our team, you know, pretty historical data that says we get quarterback play to a certain line. We win a lot of football games, so we wanted to ensure that we were able to do that, but also, you know, make it a very, very competitive room. And that's where to. Regardless of who's taking reps with what group.

J Mac (29:50)

Not great. We feel comfortable and confident about the depth of our quarterback room.

Colin Cowherd (29:55)

Yeah, depth.

J Mac (29:57)

Not that. Not. We don't have a guy.

Colin Cowherd (29:59)

We've got options, you know, that's essentially what you're hearing. There is, is we don't, we don't have a guy. That's exactly right.

J Mac (30:08)

You know, there's not many quarterback controversies. I mean, maybe Mendoza vs cousins, assuming cousins goes to the Raiders. This one's going to be scrutinized. Who's getting the most first team reps. It ain't going to be Carson Wentz. We know that. Although he knows the system because he was there last year. McCarthy was there. And then you've got the outsider, Kyler Murray, who comes in with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, right? Number one pick, dumped by Arizona, got all the money, zero playoff wins. I don't know. This is going to be a really tough test for Minnesota. Who's your early lean as QB1 for the Vikings?

Colin Cowherd (30:45)

Kyler Murray. And I think Kyler is going to play really well. And I think at some point they may consider moving off JJ McCarthy who could get a different environment. I think if JJ scraps and starts, I think it's just too much to overcome. In the building, you lose confidence of teammates. So if J.J. mcCarthy wins, it, good for him, but if he doesn't, boy, it's a hard guy to keep around, isn't it? Isn't it kind of a hard guy? Now Darnold leaves and wins the Super Bowl. Kyler comes in. Nobody believed in Darnold. Oh, he's way better. Oh, nobody believes in Kyler. Oh, he's way better. It'd be hard to keep J.J. mcCarthy in the building and I think it would be unfair to him. So I think we'll know if in camp Kyler gets the job. I would not be shocked if somebody went out and said, hey, you got Carson, Wentz and Kyler. Let's move him, get a 6 round pick for him. I just think it's really hard. Sam Darnold comes in and is amazing and then you compare JJ to Sam and you're like, wow, it's not close. If Kyler comes in and looks good, and I think he will, I think it's unfair to jj. I think you got to give him a fresh start. I really do.

J Mac (31:56)

Sam Darnold was the quarterback on a 143 Vikings team. They were really good. I mean, could Kyler help get them there?

Colin Cowherd (32:04)

Well, J.J. mcCarthy is younger than Ty Simpson. He's still a kid.

J Mac (32:08)

Yes.

Colin Cowherd (32:09)

When Sam Darnold went to New York, he was 20 years old. Nobody ever talked about that. Sam wasn't ready for it. So a lot of, a lot of J.J. mcCarthy is he's really, really young. And pro sports is hard. Quarterback is hard. So my take is, if it doesn't work in camp, let's give the kid a fresh start. Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield. We have seen this before. Fresh starts. Just, just, hey, send them down to Arizona. Do something.

J Mac (32:37)

Say, we'll take him on the jets. You know, when Geno Smith flops.

Colin Cowherd (32:40)

I will say this, I was never a huge fan, but he can move. I mean, he is a modern quarterback. He, his confidence ebbs and flows, but he's got a pretty good arm and he moves pretty well.

J Mac (32:53)

Jim Harbaugh loves him.

Colin Cowherd (32:54)

Harbaugh.

J Mac (32:55)

So, man, that's tough.

Colin Cowherd (32:58)

That's actually really interesting. Would the Chargers buy low? Well, would the Chargers take him as a 2? That's a really, really interesting one. I mean, no threat to Herbert, but in a long season, Jim knows him. Jim likes him in a pinch. That's, that's a really interesting discussion.

J Mac (33:17)

That's what we do here on the show. Final story. Colin. Hey, let's bring it back to the New York football Jets. How about a big free agent signing Geno Smith? Yeah, that was a joke. He had a decent run in Seattle. Struggled at the end. The Raiders was a disaster. Now Aaron Glenn joins forces with Geno Smith. And here's Aaron Glenn's outlook for the jets in 26.

Aaron Glenn (33:42)

You always want to bring in competition and that's going to happen organically, you know what I'm saying? But like, I just feel like, like he's the guy that's going to lead us to the promised land. He's the guy that's going to touch the ball more than anybody else on offense. And listen, I know he had his struggle and I think a lot of quarterbacks, you know, they have their struggles. If you look at over the last five years, the guy has that's thrown the most interception. I mean, the top guys are up there.

J Mac (34:10)

I like Aaron Glenn's shirt. Did you see it? It was unbuttoned. I try to go with an extra unbutton and sometimes they're like, hey, J. Mac, can you button it up? I mean, look at this. Doesn't this look kind of good? Like I'm going to a 70s nightclub with Cowherd back in the day.

Colin Cowherd (34:21)

Yeah, well, it's 2026. You may want to upgrade your style.

J Mac (34:25)

Yeah. By the way, lead us to the promised land. You know what that means? That's code for the number one pick, Arch Manning.

Colin Cowherd (34:32)

Come on down. Let's have a serious conversation. Aaron is not going to. He's not going to be the code coach in 27.

Health/Verizon Advertiser (34:40)

Right?

Colin Cowherd (34:41)

He's not going to be.

J Mac (34:42)

So I think that's realistic.

Colin Cowherd (34:44)

Is there a coach out there? We should all. I think Marcus Freeman.

J Mac (34:47)

Yeah, baby. Oh, I like where your mind is at. I would take Marcus Freeman in a heartbeat.

Colin Cowherd (34:53)

Well, a lot of teams would. So, I mean, it's, it's.

J Mac (34:55)

I don't know if he'd go to the. The Jets. We got some. That owner is really just meddling and annoying. Nobody likes him. I'm trying to think of a like other than Freeman.

Colin Cowherd (35:04)

Well, after Ryan Day.

J Mac (35:06)

Ryan Day. Wasn't he on the show today?

Colin Cowherd (35:07)

Yeah. Well, after Lincoln Riley wins a Natty this year, maybe. Lincoln Riley.

J Mac (35:11)

Lincoln Riley's winning a natty. What do you got there in your cup, buddy? Is that coffee or alcohol?

Colin Cowherd (35:17)

Natty.

J Mac (35:18)

Are you serious?

Jason Temp (35:19)

Wow.

Colin Cowherd (35:20)

A little gin and cocoa never hurt anybody. J Mac with the news.

Jason Temp (35:26)

Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by.

Colin Cowherd (35:29)

The herd lie new Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, 7 days a week within the iHeartRadio app Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like.

Sophie Cunningham (35:40)

Hey guys, it's Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. So Arby's just dropped a deal that honestly feels a little unreal.

Arby's Advertiser (35:46)

Yeah, it's the new Meat in Three box for $7.99. And it's loaded with Arby's favorites in a way that does not feel like a 7.99 situation.

Sophie Cunningham (35:53)

So here's the setup. You choose your sandwich, a classic roast beef crispy chicken or or the crispy fish sandwich. Already a very strong start.

Arby's Advertiser (36:02)

But then it keeps going because you also get melty mozzarella sticks, crispy curly fries, and a peach cobbler roll, which is a little sweet treat and so good. You genuinely need to try this.

Sophie Cunningham (36:11)

And there's a small drink in there too. So even though it's called meat in three, you're actually getting five items for just $7.99. That's kind of wild.

Arby's Advertiser (36:20)

Pick the sandwich you want, make it your own, and get it your own way.

Sophie Cunningham (36:23)

Available for a limited time at participating locations. While supplies last, prices may vary. Get your Meat in three box at an Arby's near you today.

Colin Cowherd (36:31)

Hey Heard Sports and steak, a perfect combo. True Nature Meats is offering an incredible deal. They're pre cooked New York Strip. Insanely tender, juicy, rich beefy flavor that melts in every bite. Ready in just four minutes in a skillet. Buy 10 New York strip steaks and get 10 free sirloin steaks. 20 restaurant grade steaks for about 7:40 per steak. Incredible value. Only 250 promo codes available. Head to TrueNatureMeats.com and use the promo code. Free steak Hurry. This won't last.

Health/Verizon Advertiser (37:02)

Well, in sports and in life, timing is just about everything. You can have all the right talent, right mindset, even have the right team. But if you don't act at the right moment, opportunity slips away.

Colin Cowherd (37:13)

True on the field.

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And it's true when it comes to your health. Two words for you right now. Prostate exam. I did mine a year ago.

Brad Underwood (37:19)

Yeah.

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Colin Cowherd (37:42)

Good.

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Colin Cowherd (37:59)

and discuss screening options and the next steps. It's easy.

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Health/Verizon Advertiser (38:33)

right, two truths and a lie. Here we go.

Colin Cowherd (38:36)

I went to college with college football coach Jim McElwaine.

Health/Verizon Advertiser (38:39)

I began my broadcasting career doing play by play for the Las Vegas Stars. And I've been a Verizon customer for 15 years.

Colin Cowherd (38:46)

Okay, I lied.

Health/Verizon Advertiser (38:47)

All three are true.

Colin Cowherd (38:48)

Verizon isn't as expensive as you think.

Health/Verizon Advertiser (38:50)

In fact, if you bring in your ATT or T mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. So take that AT and T or T Mobile bill to your local Verizon store today. Get a better deal and start saving based on root metrics. Best overall Mobile Network Performance US Second Half 2025 all rights reserve must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

Colin Cowherd (39:23)

Well, it's good to have you in. NBA playoffs are a couple of weeks away. We got Illinois taking on UConn, and we got Arizona Michigan, which feels like that's a real heavyweight bout. Brad Underwood, the Illinois coach, he talked about, he's got a European roster, he's got a high school guy that turned out to be a phenom. It's not just about having this nil money and just go, go buying points. Here's Brad Underwood.

Brad Underwood (39:51)

We developed relationships with the agents, with the coaches. I did a clinic in Belgrade this summer that was as good a basketball clinic as I've ever been a part of. But they fit us. We got Thomas Slavovic first. And then, to be honest, it was, it was, it was leaning on him to find out about the character, to find out about the. Who they are as a person. Do they fit in our locker room? And I'm a really big character guy. I want character, not characters.

Colin Cowherd (40:23)

And it's interesting on, on a day we talked about Jaden Ivy of the Bulls. What's the first thing the coach talks about? Culture and character. And if you just don't mesh well with others, you know, listen, I understand Christians in this country feel marginalized. I totally get that. And a lot of times, you know, the messages you may hear at church, whatever those are, that doctrine you say, you talk about that the media can eat politicians alive and be very snarky and mean spirited about it. But it really does come down to, I mean, you ask yourselves this, like, it doesn't take. I remember talking years and years and years ago to a baseball player. It was Jimmy Rollins, he was a baseball player for the Phillies. And we were talking about, like, you know, his, I think he was on a World Series team. And he said, listen, man, it just takes one annoying guy in a locker room, like you're traveling with him. He goes, baseball. You got spring training, you got the regular season, you'd have the postseason. It's 25 road trips. You know, it just, it just, I remember, remember, for this is not analogous, but remember Yasio Puig for the Dodgers came in and he was a remarkable player. And I remember, you know, a lot of people Clayton Kershaw had been mentioned is that Kershaw was sort of the culture setter And Puig was immature and just did not fit really, the culture of the Dodgers. And he was a remarkably talented guy. But I remember that was one of those, wow, just make it work. Well, when you're. I mean, you're. When you're playing baseball, you're with guys for seven and a half months. I was just talking to David Ross, who was part of that World Series for the Cubs 10 years ago. He's won a couple of them, won Red Sox, one one Cubs. And he said, one of the great things about that Chicago Cubs team is, like, on the days off, days off, think you're with your teammates for seven months. On the days off, the guys would get together and go out in a boat in Lake Michigan, not hang out. You know, all right, give me a day off from these guys. No day off. Guys are like, bro, get a couple boats. Let's go out right outside the city, Lake Michigan. Like a part of that team was just this tight fabric, this community. And so, you know, people just want to throw money. I remember. And I always feel this about, especially football nil. Like, if a guy's really great for Georgia, they're going to keep him, right?

J Mac (42:59)

Like.

Colin Cowherd (42:59)

Like it's, you know, like. Like when Caleb Williams went Oklahoma to usc. That's a coach thing. You're following a coach. I get that. But take quarterback out of it. Where quarterbacks go. A lot of times Elaine Kiffin text me once and said, offensive players will follow a coach lanes. Like, I can get quarterbacks or receivers because I can draw on the whiteboard what they will do and how I can enhance and elevate their football career. He goes, so offensive players, you know, your quarterbacks, your wide receivers, tight ends, how will I be used? They will follow a coach. But a lot of great defensive players, they're going to the big brands. They want to play at Texas, they want to play at Georgia, they want to play at Ohio State and Michigan. It's not about the coach. It's about, show me the nil money. And does this school have a history of putting defensive linemen in the NFL? So football is kind of interesting with the Nil. You know, basketball, you have only so many players. It's a tight locker room, and, you know, you. You have to watch a guy and you got to hope, is he ball centric? Is he a good teammate? Does he elevate others? I've said this about Darren Peterson for Kansas. He's a remarkable player. Kind of plays in the silo, kind of plays for himself. I mean, they were 9 and 2 when he didn't play. They had a lower winning percentage when he didn't play or they had a higher winning percentage when he didn't play. They had a lower winning percentage when he played. So he wasn't elevating others. Doesn't mean he's not great. But you know, there's one basketball, and if you're ball centric, you know, that's why watching Michigan at the United center was so much fun. It's not that they have this dominant big or Lindenberg, who's going to be a, you know, a lottery pick. That's not it. The passing and the teamwork was. It was like I felt like you were watching NBA passing, which has always been several notches above college passing. But you, you watch. I'm telling you, that Michigan, Arizona game, that is one for the ages. That is. You're going to have nine NBA guys. Think about that, how college basketball is growing with nil. You're going to have at least eight, nine NBA guys in that game. That is. That was just not what was happening pre nil. You weren't getting that 10 years ago. All right, we are done. We'll see you tomorrow.

Sophie Cunningham (45:27)

This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Okay, Arby's just casually pulled up with a deal that feels a little too good.

Arby's Advertiser (45:34)

They've got this new meat in three box for 7.99, and honestly, it's stacked with Arby's quality favorites in a way that feels kind of ridiculous.

Sophie Cunningham (45:40)

For that price, here's what you're getting inside. You pick one sandwich, the classic roast beef, the crispy chicken sandwich, or the crispy fish sandwich.

Arby's Advertiser (45:47)

Then it just keeps going because also comes with melty mozzarella sticks, crispy curly fries, and a peach cobbler roll, which is a little sweet treat and so good.

Sophie Cunningham (45:56)

And you get a small drink to round it all out. So, yeah, it's called Meat and Three, but you're actually getting five items all for only $7.99.

Arby's Advertiser (46:03)

Pick the sandwich you want, make it your own, and get it your way.

Sophie Cunningham (46:06)

Available for a limited time at participating locations. While supplies last, prices may vary. Get your meat in three box at any Arby's near you today, whether you

Colin Cowherd (46:14)

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J Mac (48:08)

Are you really buying a car online on Auto Trader right now?

Sophie Cunningham (48:11)

Really?

J Mac (48:12)

At a playground?

Sophie Cunningham (48:13)

Yeah, really. Look at these listings from dealers.

J Mac (48:16)

Wow, your search can really get that specific.

Sophie Cunningham (48:18)

Really?

J Mac (48:19)

And you just put in your info and boom. Car's in your budget.

Sophie Cunningham (48:22)

Mom needs a second honey.

J Mac (48:23)

You can really have it delivered.

Sophie Cunningham (48:25)

Really? Or I can pick it up at the dealership.

Colin Cowherd (48:28)

One sec, sweetie. Mommy's buying a car.

J Mac (48:31)

I think your kid is walking up the slide, Kyle.

Colin Cowherd (48:34)

Again?

Sophie Cunningham (48:34)

Really? Autotrader? Buy your car online? Really? This is an iHeart podcast.

Colin Cowherd (48:40)

Guaranteed Human.