February 24, 2025 • 46 mins
Colin couldn't be happier to see LeBron and Luka come together to create a new excitement level in Los Angeles. The Four Nations game did exactly what it was meant to do, enjoying the moment rather than the purpose. The NFL kickoff tweak is actually a great change and another riveting edition of "Where Colin was Right and Wrong!"
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three eastern nine am to
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, here we are vacation is officially over. Live
in Los Angeles Little New Studio for a while. It's
the Herd wherever you may be and however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Jmax,
we went to different places. You were on the beach.
I had a hammer and nails and was making things happen.
(00:48):
But it's interesting what happened. It was pretty good, pretty
good week to have take off. There wasn't a lot
going on, but over the course of the weekend we
saw some very interesting things happen. And with the Lakers,
with the war, with the Knicks, with the Celtics, and
I want to talk about that. So you know, sometimes
people get blamed for stuff and sometimes they're at fault,
(01:09):
but Jimmy Butler is one of those guys that throughout
his NBA career a lot of finger pointing. Jimmy's a problem.
But I had said about a month ago, the Warriors
need to create some inertia. They're boring. Steph looks bored.
They just look bored. And Jimmy Butler gets people worked up.
He's like, he works hard at practice. He'll get after
(01:29):
a coach. Well, the Warriors are now five and one
since Jimmy Butler arrived. By the way, how are his
old team, the Sixers doing with Joel Embiid. They've lost
seventh straight and Embiid got bench yesterday. And remember Embiid
was the franchise Jimmy Butler in Philadelphia was viewed as
a problem. He was also viewed as a problem in Chicago,
where he led him to the second round of the playoffs,
(01:51):
and they've been unwatchable since. He goes to Minnesota, great
numbers playoffs, they blamed him there. He goes to Miami,
they didn't blame him. Last four years finals twice Miami,
a very strong organization figured out, Hey, Jimmy's not for everybody.
But what Jimmy creates is intensity. And in the NBA. Oh,
(02:15):
these guys are talented. I mean, you don't make the NBA.
Just think of how great you have to be to
be in the NBA. But I would argue there's not
that many winning players. Lebron's not just talented, he's a
winning player. Steph Curry's a winning player. Draymond Green is
a classic. Not as talented as a lot of guys,
but a winning player. Well that's Jimmy Butler. Bulls playoffs,
te Wolves playoffs, Miami Heat Finals, and here he goes
(02:39):
to the Warriors. So the Warriors were kind of a
lifeless offense when Steph was off the floor. Podd's was
like sometimes a one or a two, you can never
count on Wiggins. Well now they have a number two,
and what he's doing, he's getting to the free throw line.
So the Warriors just didn't get to the free throw line.
(03:00):
And that is part of being a winning player. And
that's what Jimmy Butler is right. I just looked this
morning free throws made. They were near the bottom of
the NBA since he arrived, their first of free throw percentage,
bottom of the NBA since he's arrived their second. That
is what a winning player does, and this organization needed fight,
(03:23):
needed feisty, needed to get to the line, needed contact.
And Jimmy is not. By the way, Miami heat one
and five since he left, Warriors five and one since
he arrived. And again I get that Butler's not for everybody,
but this is what I said a month ago. This
is a boring team. They don't have any offensive energy.
If STEP's done on the floor, they're unwatchable. Jimmy Butler
(03:45):
will just create things. He'll get on his coaches, his teammates.
Practice will be harder, and he's a really nice offensive player.
And the thing with Butler, he's not a naturally gifted
offensive player. He is a grinder, so he gets banged up.
He plays hard. But when you watch the Warriors today,
now Pods is their third or their fourth guy. STEP's
(04:06):
there one, Butler's there two. At Kaminga now everybody it's
like a pitching staff that gets a true number two
starter behind their ace and it sets up everybody else
to go against a pitcher that's of the same talent.
So they were asking guys like Pods and to do
things he's not capable of. They wanted more consistency from kaminga.
(04:28):
At this point, you don't know what's get that you
know exactly what you get with Jimmy Butler. He has
created a lot of things. Free throws, free throws made.
They'll be better defensively, better in the half court offense.
And Steve Kerr five and one since he arrived talked
about Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Feels easier right now for US game. You can make
a mistake and keep playing and not feel like, you know,
oh my god, we got we gotta flip things right now.
The trade itself, I think I mentioned this after the
Sacramento game. We just need it, and you know we
felt it. We were kind of treading water. Sometimes you
(05:07):
just you got to shake things up, and we shook
things up.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
For the record, Joel Embiid has become mostly a big
truck that half the time you can't even get out
of the garage. He's getting benched, he won't play back
to backs, and this is an organization where people are
gonna lose their jobs because Embiid is not delivered. He
may have the worst contract now in professional sports. He's
getting hurt more often. I've never seen him as a leader,
(05:33):
but it was Embiid sometimes talent, remember Durant and Westbrook.
Nobody can deny Westbrook's energy, production and talent. And Sam
Presty's a brilliant GM. But Katie's like, I'm the better
player by far. Can I get a little love? And
I think I think Darryl Morey's a smart guy. But
in the end, the Embiid struggles forget getting along with teammates.
(05:57):
Embiid struggles to play well with other Hell, he struggled
at the Olympics. Remember he was the one guy that
didn't work at the Olympics. Butler can work with any team.
There is no team. I don't care if he went
to the Knicks or the Celtics tomorrow. Butler works with
every team. He makes every team better. He gets into
the playoffs. Yes, he can wear you out. Some relationships
(06:20):
don't last forever. Steph Curry doesn't wear people out. Jimmy
can wear people out, but he'll make your basketball team better.
All right, Something else that happened over the weekend. So
this has been a long time coming. And this is
not a shot at Lebron James. But Lebron now is
in what year twenty two Lebron at his best is
(06:41):
going to give you amazing four and five minute flashes
of brilliance. But he cannot be the initiator of the
offense anymore. If Luca sits down, he can be. If
lucas playing and Lebron sits down, Austin Reeves also capable
of being a playmaker. JJ Reddick finally said the quiet
(07:04):
part out loud as the Lakers beat Denver is that
Luca had his highest usage rate as a Laker and
it was his best game. This is how the Lakers
should play because remember, as great as Kyrie Irving was
in Cleveland, he was relegated to a shooting guard with
Lebron and probably should have been as great as d
(07:26):
Wade was in Miami. He was relegated to off ball,
and he's not a great peer shooter. Lebron has been
such a force of nature and so great for so
long that everybody wants him to playoff ball. And AD's great,
but Ad can't be the playmaker. So Lebron's entire career,
it's not that Lebron's selfish. I always use a statistic
(07:47):
with Lebron James, he averaged like twenty eighty game. His
junior year in high school, he could have averaged sixty
his senior year. You know what, he averaged one more
point of senior year. Lebron wants to pass. He likes
to be a playmaker. I've always felt he's more Magic
Johnson than Michael Jordan. He wants others to score, but
he likes to control the offense. Finally, finally, he has
(08:12):
a teammate. This is due to two things. Luca is
a really good playmaker and Lebron's now forty, So the
combination of the two. A transformational young talent in Luca
and the fact that Lebron is older and is great
in spurts. But in the Denver game, when Lebron didn't
have to be the initial, the initiator of offense, his
(08:33):
usage rate was only twenty nine percent. That's well below
his average. Did you also notice, since Luca arrive, what's
happened to Lebron's efficiency. It's gone through the roof. So
he's fresh for those flurries late in the round, late
in the quarter, late in the sequence, late in the half,
late in the game. So this is finally and now
(08:53):
now it's working. Now somebody said this too many years ago,
and it was really smart about Lebron. Whenever you play
with Lebron, you are playing in Lebron's offense. You just
have to figure out.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Kyrie got really frustrated with it. But I think Lebron
because of his age and because I think Luca's even
I mean, listen, Kyrie's an all time talent, but I
think he looks at Luc and goes, Okay. Finally, as
much as I loved Ad, he's not a playmaker. Luca
is Austin Reeves is Lebron is. But this is what
JJ Reddick said after this winning Denver, and this is
(09:28):
the quiet part, finally finally being said out loud.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Luca needs to be the guy that controls the offense
in Bun and Ar because we're going to stagger everybody.
They're going to have their times to be on the ball.
But all three of those guys are very intelligent basketball players,
and we can create mismatches, we can get teams in
the blunder.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Nobody's ever said that like that has been thought about privately,
it's been whispered, it's been you know, it probably be better.
The whole ad time, we kept waiting for the baton
pass that against Denver. That was the baton pass. That
was a moment. That's what I said. I think the
Lakers can play for the Western Conference Finals if they
(10:13):
play like that. You got Ruey in the corner. Austin
Reeves is your third best playmaker, Luke is your primary initiator,
and Lebron off ball. Unless Lucas says, for the record,
Lebron sees it and said this after.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
I'm a natural born wide receiver and he's a natural
born quarterback, so it fits perfectly. You know, I'm I've
been running the floor and running lanes like you know,
pretty much my whole life, and he's been throwing great
passes pretty much his whole life. So it's not it's
not hard to get a rhythm when it comes to that.
You know, it's just all about you know, eye contact
(10:49):
and you know, him being a great quarterback like he is,
and Need being the recipient of it.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
This is not a small thing. This is like been
the discussion for years. This is what Kyrie complained about.
D Wade didn't complain about it. D Wade and spolsterra
figured it out after about two practices. This is gonna
be Lebron's team. Kyrie pushed back, but Lebron was better
at it. Ad I'm not a playmaker. This is what
it can look like. This is what it can look
(11:16):
like at its best. Lucas the playmaker. He initiates it.
Lebron will have more efficiency and more energy late in
the quarter half game and they blow out Denver. And
Denver's a team I don't know in the last fifteen
is Denver fourteen and one? Denver always beats the Lakers
and this wasn't even close. So I don't want to
(11:37):
get too crazy, but this is what I should look like.
J mack Listen. Hockey blew up when I was gone.
Aaron Rodgers, maybe a Ram Colin Wright, Colin wrong. NFL
may screw around with their kickoffs even more. I hope
you had a great time with the fam.
Speaker 7 (11:51):
I did, wife and I went to granm Cayman. So
nice little get away down to the Caribbean. It's good
to be back and hear you saying nice things about Lebron.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Oh my god, that's awesome. Wrong, No, you're right.
Speaker 8 (12:03):
It does feel like we're a little far away.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I feel like I have to wave or maybe cush
out a little louder for the watch that may have
been intentional. Oh shots fired on Sunday, So I will
say this, we are. I'm not gonna tell you why
we're in a makeshift studio. It's amazing how good of
a makeshift studio it was. They told me, Colin'm gonna
have a makeshift studio, and I thought we were gonna
be in a broom closet. So I came up here
this morning with very low hopes. My optimism was it
(12:28):
a low nothing against management. But I went up to
a broom closet and I'm like, all right, it's gonna
be about four months. I can't believe how nice it is.
In fact, you may want to cancel those plans and
use that budget for something else, because I am really
comfortable out here, feeling great. Rachel Nichols. Matt Hasselbeck is
joining us today. Colin right, Colin wrong, don't forget. The
Combine starts Thursday. Very interesting week in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (13:00):
The NASCAR Cup Series is in Texas, where the best
drivers in the world take on the twists and turns
at the Circuit of the Americas. Pre race coverage begins
at two thirty Eastern, with the green flag at three thirty,
only on Fox.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
So mostly when I take a vacation, I stay off
social media. I get out of here. I've been doing
this long enough. There about six to eight weekends or
six to eight weeks during the year that you should
take off. They're slow. So you do the NFL, the
Super Bowl long season. We ask a lot of our staff.
Our staff doesn't take any days off. We're working Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
That's the way it is. So after the Super Bowl
(13:35):
you talk about it for four or five days. Hopefully
it didn't get stomach flu in New Orleans. I think
everybody did, ourselves included. And then you take a week
off and it's quiet. There was a little bit of noise.
And part of it is based on All Star games.
Let me say this, All Star games used to feel
really special. I'm old enough to remember when you know,
you got one baseball game of the week on Saturday
(13:56):
and one on Monday, and there wasn't interleague play, and
I couldn't wait the one, the Baseball All Star Game,
which remains the jewel of all star games, but it
doesn't feel as special. Okay, the Pro Bowl. I've said
this for since I've been a broadcaster. Unwatchable and I
love football Hockey All Star Game so bad they gave
up on it. Get to that in a second NBA
(14:17):
All Star Game. The players make so much money now
they just don't care. And that's natural. Stuff you care
about when you're not worth one hundred and fifty million
may matter more than stuff once you are worth north
of two hundred and fifty three hundred million. A lot
of these stars and I don't want to hear that
(14:39):
NBA guys are bad guys because they love the Olympics.
I'm currently watching something a streaming service, watching something on
USA Basketball and in Paris, and it's wonderful and the
players are like kids and they still care. But all
Star games are done. These guys want time off, you know,
these guys. The NBA just signed a seventy six billion
(15:00):
dollar deal for eleven years. The owners are happy, the
players are rich. Adam Silver's happy. The All Star Games
a shot weekend. Nobody cares. The stars would rather have
it off. The fact that they even show up is laudable,
but it's bad and they're trying to tweak it and
just leave it alone and let it be and let
the young guys shine. It's just a different time in
the NBA. But hockey, to its credit, and that's the
(15:21):
sport that frankly, it's big in Canada. We don't watch
it here a lot, even the Stanley Cup final, we
just don't watch it. So hockey's like our All Star
Game is brutal. So they went and did something called
four Nations Finland, Sweden, Canada, USA. We're gonna face each
other in a tournament. It was fantastic. You couldn't turn
(15:42):
it off. It was unbelievable and it was a convergence
of many things that got ten million viewers for USA Canada.
It was Trump poking Canada, it was Trudeau poking back.
It's USA versus Canada. I've never thought of as as
rivals and the Olympics, I always root for Canada. I
go to Canada every other summer. I love Canada. Okay,
most Americans I know love Canada. If not, we love
(16:04):
their moleson like they're nice people. But you know, we
got a little rivalry tariff talk, so that's part of it.
The fights are part of it. Canada booing us at
our anthem is part of it. And it just made
for an unbelievable week of hockey that you could not
turn off. I thought it was fantastic, and you can
nitpick some stuff about it. Let's not let's enjoy it,
(16:26):
but not everything becomes something greater. Tim Tebow and Denver,
you can't recreate it. Lyn's sanity, Saint Peter's in March, Madness,
the Wildcat offense. You know, we spend so much time
instead of just loving the moment and going, damn, this
is good. Just love the moment. Years ago, I used
(16:47):
to cover boxing. You'd get about one fight every two
or three years. That was magic, and they'd always have
a rematch, and the rematch was never as good, and
generally the sequel in movie making is never as good.
And I just thought this was wonderful. It was a
convergence of format and timing, and we were underdogs and
we were booed, and you couldn't turn it off. You
(17:10):
make Americans underdogs and you get into fights with them
and you challenge us We've got a healthy enough ego
and pride, we're gonna fight back. So I thought it
was wonderful. I give the NHL a ton of credit
for saying, listen, our All Star Game is different. We're
not gonna tweak it, we're gonna blow it up. We're
just gonna do something completely different. And I think that's great.
(17:32):
And Gary Bettman gets a lot of crap. It is
hard to sell hockey in America. Canada does not have
our labyrinth, labyrinth of college and university sports. They don't
have a march madness like us. I mean, high school
sports are big in America, college sports, you know, Division
two sports. We are just wildly distracted. It is hard
(17:56):
to sandwich in Canada's favorite sport and say everybody watch it.
We don't this. We watched. It's just for a moment
due to several factors. Remarkable television, and I loved every
bit of it. But it's not gonna mean anything. We're
not gonna now A lot of hockey games play this
(18:16):
weekend and Americans didn't watch. Just enjoy it. Not everything
needs a sequel. Now you may do this on an
you know, listen, Italy's got the Olympics in the twenty
twenty six, it'll get feisty again. We may in this
country love hockey very situationally Olympics, this tournament, this may
be when we love it. And that's okay. What we
(18:38):
don't love about the NBA is All Star Weekend, and
it's very clear the players don't like it. Draymond Green
was complaining about it. Here's a clip of that.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
I had to work so hard to play on Sunday
night of All Star Weekend. And because ratings are down,
because the games back, we're bringing in rising stars. That's
not a fix. I never played in the Razin Stars
game my first two years. I didn't touch that game.
And these guys get to touch the All Star floor.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yeah. If I was the NBA, I'd leave it alone.
I'm serious, Just like it's not gonna be a big deal.
I'd let the young guys take over. There's tons of
young guys. I think the NBA is listening to their
critics and they're trying to tweak it and fix it.
Just let it be. Nobody really cares. The football season's over.
It's a boring week or two of sports. We're all
waiting for the combine and NFL free agency in March madness. Okay,
(19:34):
here's another thing. Now, some things speaking of you don't
need to fix it, so you have to be careful.
I tell young broadcasters this. Whenever I speak to a
college class. One of the first things I say is,
just don't listen to the noise, trust your instincts, work hard,
keep your head down, don't stay off your phone. Just
(19:55):
that stuff. I'm old enough now I don't care. But
when you're in your twenties and thirties, sometimes I watch
these leagues and they're listening to critics. Don't worry about critics.
I mean, the NBA just signed a mega deal. Who
cares what critics say? Owners happy, players happy, Adam Silver happy.
Now NBC may have reached and overbid. That's my feeling.
They won't be happy, but everybody else will be. But
(20:20):
here's something that the NBA, which is the great tweak league,
and I've always had respect for the NFL, is the
great tweak league. They are constantly tweaking stuff. I've seen
them change the catch rule in a Super Bowl so
this year they tweaked the kickoff. And they have two concerns.
Too many concussions during the kickoff. This had been like
(20:41):
a decade concern and there weren't enough returns, too many touchbacks.
So they tweaked it and people didn't like it. And
I said, at the time, take a deep breath. You
know nobody likes change. Just take a deep breath. I
think it'll be okay when the season's over. Well, the
numbers are in and there's a story this. They want
to tweak it again, and my take is, don't. So
(21:04):
the number one concern was concussions.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Concussions this past year were down seventeen percent historic NFL low.
So it worked. Okay, let's talk about kickoff returns. Oh,
let's look. Oh, kickoff returns rows fifty three percent. In fact,
there were more forty plus yard kickoff returns than in
(21:29):
any year since twenty sixteen. So there were two objectives
with this kickoff rule. I know it looked weird. A
lot of stuff looks weird until you get used to it.
They wanted fewer concussions. Check. They wanted more kick returns,
especially big ones. Check. Do a Vegas dealer move, You're done.
(21:51):
It worked, It's over. And I said, day one, we
all struggle I've used this stat before. Forty percent of
Americans never move away from their zip code. People don't
like change. Like right now in the White House, people
are freaking out. There's a lot of change, a lot
of it good, maybe some not. But people just don't
like change. They don't like it. People don't like to move,
(22:12):
they don't like to move out of their comfort zone.
So the NFL kickoff room, esthetically it was weird looking.
It was like, Okay, they can't move until they grab it.
It's weird. They did that for concussions, So the numbers
are out. They both worked and we had more big returns.
We had more returns by almost over fifty percent, and
(22:33):
concussions were down. And that's exactly. And I'll give the
NFL credit. It's easy to make changes when you're bad.
I always said Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods changed clubs when
he was the number one golfer in the world. That
takes courage. Okay, Oprah Winfrey changed formats when she was
(22:53):
the number one daytime talk show host. That's courage. The
NFL is number one by a mile, and then are
constantly tweaking total respect for that. But the kickoff thing
at worked you got it right. Okay. I want to
go back to the Matt Stafford talk with the Giants
because Albert Breer not on the show today, but somebody
we respect a lot talked about this. So this Stafford
(23:17):
has a bad contract right now and he's made a
lot of money, but he's not happy with it, and
they've kind of put a band aid on it in
the last year. But Stafford, now this stuff gets out
because Stafford and his people want it out. They're unhappy.
And so Albert Breer says, the Giants, the Browns, and
the Steelers and the Raiders have all shown interest. Well,
(23:38):
my take is you could put a caution tape around
those four franchises. Offensively, those are bad danger stay away.
The Rams have two big advantages with Stafford here. Number one,
they're really well run. How many NFL franchises, if I
ask you today, are really well run Baltimore or Kansas City, Philadelphia,
(24:01):
Rams Niners? It's not that many. And how many of
the well run franchises are also well coached? That he
gets down to about six, and the Rams are one
of them. So sometimes your greatest leverage as a company
is we've got our act together. Steelers offensively don't. Giants don't.
(24:23):
Raiders don't. They're running through people. The Browns don't. So
in this you think to yourself, Oh, Stafford's got leverage. No,
Stafford's talented and he's great, and he'd be crazy to leave.
But he spent twelve years in Detroit. Okay, that stuff
doesn't leave you, like they always therapist's always tell you
what happened to you at nine will stick with you
(24:44):
for life, even if you go to therapy. If you're
a bad twelve year relationship in the NFL with your organization,
that stuff doesn't leave. I mean, Aaron Rodgers right now
at a great relationship. Why Stafford was with the Lions,
he was with the Packers. Aaron goes to the Jets
for two years. Oh, you don't think you'd be interested
in the Rams like I've been with a bad franchise.
(25:04):
It is no fun. So to me, Stafford would be
nuts to leave. I think if the Rams went, listen,
we're gonna give you forty million dollars a two year deal.
Eighty million total, forty million, two years, call to day,
you'll be forty it's over. I would take that in
a second. Stafford had won a third year, Probably not
gonna give it to him. It's a much better college
quarterback draft class. And also Aaron Rodgers out there for
(25:27):
a year or two. But when I look at the
teams that are out there, my take is, Matt, you've
made a lot of money. You've made three hundred and
sixty million dollars. If you signed forty million for two years,
you end up making close to four hundred and fifty million,
and you get a super Bowl. And I'm serious here,
Rams for the next two years with Stafford are in
the super Bowl bubble, and I'm not sure how far
(25:48):
they are off. You go to that game against Philadelphia,
more yards, more first downs. They held Jalen Hurst to
about sixty five yards passing. Remember that big completion Jmack
down the right sideline to Puka. We were sitting there going,
wait a minute, are they gonna steal this game? They
haven't even played well. I mean they hadn't even played well,
and they were driving down the field a dome team
(26:10):
essentially so far as a you know, semi dome. They
were driving for the win. And that d line which
destroyed the Commanders and the Chiefs front that after that
completion right there, You're like, holy crap, they're down to
the fifteen yard line. So for Stafford to leave that
(26:32):
I think would be a huge, huge mistake. And I
know j max theory is always strike when the iron
is high. But what if the iron is the Steelers, Giants,
Raiders Brown that's not a hot iron.
Speaker 7 (26:45):
Well let's look at there. Have you looked at the
Rams free agency situation. It sounds like both tackles may
need to be replaced for the rems.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
That's not ideal.
Speaker 7 (26:54):
They don't have a second round pick, I believe because
they had to move up for the kid from the FSC.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Haven Stein is getting old, but is still a top
five right tackle.
Speaker 7 (27:02):
It sounds like Jackson's gonna command a lot of money
on the market. Rams may lose him. So now all
of a sudden, Stafford's looking around like, damn, my tackle
situation's uncertain. After Pooka, Cooper's gonna be gone, I think
two two hours a free agent. I think Robinson's gonna
be looking elsewhere as a free agent. And now you're like, oh,
we got a lot of.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Holes on this team.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
You gotta need to pay me.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Their first pick is gonna be a left tackle, which
will free up money they would have to spend on
their left tackle for Matt Tyler, Higbee, Poka Nakua. They're
gonna draft a receiver, I think with one of their
third round picks, wide receiver. It's not a terribly deep
wide receiver class like previous years, but it's good enough.
(27:43):
I'm gonna say mcvaan. The Rams will score points with
or without Stafford next year. Colin right, Colin wrong next.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern not a IM Pacific.
Speaker 9 (27:53):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 10 (27:59):
You could catch usays from five to seven pm Eastern
two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of
course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 10 (28:07):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 9 (28:12):
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.
Speaker 10 (28:20):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right,
So check us out.
Speaker 9 (28:26):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up as they say.
Speaker 10 (28:31):
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covino and
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
That's Covino and Rich, all right. First hour down in
our new digs, A second hour rolling j Max trying
to get comfortable out there on an island. He just
spent his vacation on him island. He doesn't like this island.
You know what they gave us, j Maac And they
never did this in the old studio Battle Scar glackedic
Go Gigantic, there was no snacks. So you and I
(29:10):
had a couple of food strikes where we would feel
like we were just not being taken care of. So
we come upstairs. Have you seen the pantry? Do you
have me to hold up on the street. It's incredible
I have gone through like twelve sour Patch kids, and
we're only an hour or two in a Monday, So
Matt Hasselbeck's going to be joining us. A lot of
different stuff to talk about. We do it every Monday
(29:30):
at this time. Football or not. Colin Wright Colin wrong,
and here we go where Colin was right. Well, I said,
once they got Luca, it would take a while to
figure it out, and they won't be great defensively, but
either as Denver in the West, but the Lakers will
be a Western Conference Finals participant. They blew out Denver
in Denver, Luca now not Lebron for the first time ever.
(29:53):
Lucas the quarterback and the initiator of the offense, and
Lebron's more the tight end or wide receiver. And I
think it at this point that's the best way to
do it. JJ Reddick deserves a lot of credit. He's
saying the quiet part out loud. Lucas gonna lead the offense,
allowing Austin Reeves and Lebron to be great off ball.
(30:14):
This is how it should work. And JJ Reddick, the
new guys come in. I said this, This franchise now
is Luca and JJ Reddicks. That's not a shot at
Lebron But this game against Denver is what the offense
should look like going forward. Where Colin was raw, there's
a story today that the Vikings are considering re signing
(30:37):
Sam Darnold, and I'm a little confused by this. Not
the franchise tech, which would pay him a lot, So
that tells me JJ McCarthy's injury. There's still some concerns
now Daniel Jones is there, but a free agent. Listen,
I'm not one of these. Sam had a great year,
thirty five touchdown, twelve picks. Is it a lightning in
(30:58):
a bottle moment? A little bit? But I think Sam's
in his prime. He's coachable, he moves, he's got a
good arm, and I think Minnesota's really well coached. But
I will be honest, I thought he was moving off.
I thought he Sam would have a market. I'd be
surprised if the Raiders don't make a real run in him.
So Darnold, according to a story, Vikings open to a contract.
Speaker 8 (31:19):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
I said this before I left, keep your eyes on
Aaron Rodgers. If Stafford leaves to the Rams and pro
football talk is quoting a general manager anonymous GM saying, Yep,
it's being discussed. One of the reasons Stafford and the
Rams are gonna discuss a new deal at the combine
starting Thursday and going through the weekend, I'm told, but
Aaron doesn't want a long term deal. He's been humbled
(31:44):
a little in New York and also after playing in
well run Green Bay, he probably misses a really top
to bottom, well run organization. I'm not saying it's gonna happen,
but I'm not surprised that Aaron, who I actually think
with a staff at the end of last year for
the Jets that was suboptimal. I thought Aaron was pretty
good down the stretch. Story today Rams.
Speaker 8 (32:06):
Are looking where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Well, they got Josh Hart finally back after eleven days off,
but they got I thought the Knicks were going to
be a very good team, better offensively with Karl Anthony
Towns and very good at least as good defensively. They're not.
They're bad defensively.
Speaker 6 (32:25):
Now.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
They're getting Robinson back and Josh Hart came back, but
Boston and Cleveland attacked Karl Anthony Towns and there is
nothing they can do about it again. I thought a
lot of their defense would be solved by Michale Bridges,
a very athletic wing. They cannot defend the three. In fact,
I think their last in the NBA at defending the three.
So of all the Knicks problems, I thought they were
(32:47):
going to be a better offensive team than last year.
Still great defense, they are struggling on the defensive.
Speaker 8 (32:54):
End, where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Never really understood the fascination with Joe l Embid right
now now they've lost seven straight with Joel Embiid. He
got bench yesterday. Listen. I know he's talented, and I
know he's worth something, but they chose em Beide is
the good guy and Jimmy Butler is the bad guy.
And all Butler does is win now with the Warriors
and then with the Miami Heat. I don't understand his game.
(33:17):
He's shooting more threes than ever and he's bad at it,
shooting twenty nine percent. He didn't work in the Olympics
with other star players, so I've never been a huge
Mbat fan. He was gifted an MVP a couple of
years ago because people didn't think it was fair that
Jokis won three straight. Now you're seeing the result of
that huge contract bad news for the Sixers.
Speaker 8 (33:37):
Where Colin was raw Te.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Higgins looks like he could stay in Cincinnati stories today
they are considering strongly a franchise tag now that would
probably overpay him for the short term. But my takeaway
is outside of Burrow and Jamar Chase, who are you paying?
You got one edge rusher. If Philadelphia can pay everybody,
(34:00):
including Dom, they should be able to pay Burrow, Jamar
Chase and d Higgins. He's a really good player. He's durable,
he's got a catching radius. I mean, he can take
a hit, he can block a little. I'm surprised Cincinnati
would open up the wallet.
Speaker 8 (34:16):
Here where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
We were huge proponents of Jimmy Butler to the Warriors,
and they're five and one since he arrived. They didn't
have a consistent number two score. More than that though,
Butler gets to the free throw line, and the Warriors
were bottom of the league in that category. Since he arrived,
their top one to two in the league, and free
throws attempted and free throws made. He's feisty. He is
(34:40):
not a naturally gifted offensive score, but he works for it.
He forces you to guard him and defend him every
time down the floor, and he's the kind of guy
that will challenge teammates. It's his staff, and I just
think they needed to be more interesting, and he delivered
where Colin was right Debo Samuel, the Niners have told
him you have permission to look for a trading partner.
(35:03):
I had said last year. I thought he was the
odd man out. Kittle still playing at an elevated level.
Brandon Aiyuk is there down the field, deep threat. They've
got to play brock Perty. They drafted two receivers Pearsol
late first round. Looks like he can fill that role.
Deebo is a really really good chess piece, and Kyle
Shanahan does wonders with those. I'm not sure if he's
(35:26):
the same player if he gets a defensive head coach
or a staff that doesn't quite understand his value doing
many things besides wide receiver. But he felt like the
odd man out to me during this season and the
stories now San Francisco willing to move Colin Wright Colin wrong.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern nine am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Okay, so I said my lead today on the show
was for years there's been JJ Reddick said the quiet
part outside, which is for you years and years we've
sort of known, like eventually Lebron needs to play off ball.
But like in Cleveland, he relegated Kyrie to a two
guard and Kyrie didn't like it, right, and it worked,
(36:12):
but I kind of now understand, and Kyrie is so
there's so much dexterity to his game. He's like, I'm
not going to be a shooting guard. D Wade not
as naturally gifted as Kyrie sort of went yeah. So
Luca shows up and JJ says, no, that that's his offense.
Are you shocked it was said out loud.
Speaker 11 (36:33):
No. I think that it was done in a way
that everybody knew what was happening. They waited a few games, right,
it was like, oh, Lucas, he's not quite fitting in
with the Lakers yet, or oh it's conditioning isn't quite there.
It was partly because of the way they were playing, right,
but they have to give deference to Lebron. It's his team.
They have to sort of show that at the beginning,
and we've seen this with the NBA. Coaches do this
kind of thing all the time. If they know they're
(36:53):
going to move a sort of big name vet to
the bench, they'll let that guy play a couple games
as a starter for that season and be like, may
didn't make sense to move it to the bench, even
though they knew that summer all along that's what they
were going to do. Yeah, I think that was the
plan here with Luca and frankly, I think Lebron has
been looking for this. I think Lebron was hoping that
Anthony Davis.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
But Anthony's not a playmaker.
Speaker 11 (37:14):
But he is not a playmaker in that way. He
was never going to be able to do that. So
the fact that he has a guy who can frankly,
extend his career and extend him within games. We've seen
so many games with Lebron you can tell about the
third or fourth quarter, especially defensively, he's starting to wear
down and Luca's just going to take some of that
physical loan off him in so many ways, and just
(37:35):
the pounding he's going to get through the first few quarters.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Yeah, it's interesting. For the record, Anthony Davis has hurt.
The Mavericks are actually playing well, and Kyrie and Luca
got along well, and I may have some misgivings about
some of the stuff with Kyrie and disruptions. He is
an all time offensive talent. If you talked NBA players,
they talk about Kyrie and like Kobe, Reverence can't stop.
Speaker 11 (38:00):
Him either, ask sort of with that, yes, idea of.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
And if he was four inches taller, he would win
an NBA one on one contest. He's just is a
little small to stop guys because he's that good. So
tomorrow Lakers play Dallas. Yes, I saw a story where
they won't let Luca Jerseys in the building in Dallas.
Are you surprised the anger? Now Dallas is playing pretty well,
(38:25):
so that that really has helped the situation, But are
you surprised by the outrage of it? No?
Speaker 11 (38:31):
I mean, look, you know this game tomorrow is going
to be here in Los Angeles, and the big question
there is is Nico Harrison going to sit visibly in
the stands in a way that Luca can see him?
Because that's really the back and forth that we expect
possibly tomorrow, because Luca when he gets amped, and you know,
we've seen him start swearing at fans or kind of
pick a guy out and play. But people are still
(38:51):
so angry in Dallas that later this spring, when Luca
comes to Dallas, I am so fascinated who they're going
to root for. At that point, Dallas is going to
really be trying to make a run into the playoffs.
I don't know what's going to happen, because none of
this has simbered down, none of it. If you talk
to people in Texas, they are just as angry as
they were when this first happened.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Yeah, I still think Dallas has a really good team,
and when Ad comes back, they're going to be a handful.
I really believe. If you think Kyrie is as gifted
an offensive player as the sport has, and there's an
argument if you think Ad is the best defensive player
in the league, I do. You can't tell me. With
all those other parts, Dallas is not a is not
(39:34):
a team capable of getting to the conference final.
Speaker 11 (39:36):
It's just they're going to run out of time this
year with the amount of time that Ad is projected
to miss and Lively is projected to miss, and it
just seems like they're going to run out of time
to be able to coalesce and make a run. And
then you're really betting on next year or the year
after that, and that bet is hedged against the next
ten years of Luca's career. So you had bet on
this one or two year window that the MAVs are
(39:58):
going to be the better team, but you are bet
I against that sometime in the next decade, Luca isn't
going to make you look dumb and win a title.
And I think there's a good chance Luca's going to
win a title here in La.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
So for years, Jimmy Butler, listen, whenever there's a divorce,
there's finger pointing, if not publicly privately, could be Brady
Belichick as a matter if it's Aaron and the Packers.
So Jimmy Butler wins everywhere. He got the bulls of
the playoffs, yep, the t wles of the playoffs, the sixers.
If not for a bounce, the Kawhi bounce. They finally
(40:28):
get to a second round playoff series. So it's the
best series they've ever had Miami last four years. Two finals,
and then he goes to Golden State and it's like, oh,
now they get to the Feederal Line. You cover the league,
so obviously he's too talented to just bounce around. Some
of it's true that he can be a pain in
the butt, but he's also a winning player. Like inside
(40:51):
the league why Miami, I understood he wanted big money
and they're like, we're not going to do it. I
get that, But what is his reputation in the league.
He wins everywhere.
Speaker 11 (41:02):
Everyone knows how good he is, and that, as you said,
every single place he has been he has worn out.
He's welcome. Now, what Golden State is banking on is
this is the end. They've got the contract that he's
going to have for the next couple of years. He
agreed to it. By the time that deal is done,
he'll be thirty seven years old. So they are gearing.
They're sort of betting on the fact that there won't
be some big, crazy blow up, acrimonious ending, and that
(41:24):
in the meantime, he is giving Steph Curry an ending
to his Golden State time. That is competitive, times interesting,
and they're on the same timeline. And before it, just
with Clay gone, Steph was having to carry so much
of the load, and even before Clay left because he
wasn't the player he used to be. Now he's got
another guy. When he's off the court. If you look
(41:44):
at the on off minutes and Jimmy's on the court,
he's making everyone better, even the bench players. And they
just they needed that shot in the arm so badly.
And Steve Kerr said, he gives us the swagger. We
haven't had a trial.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Yeah, And I do think this is I do think
Steph Curry has been such a great states person for
the league. And I don't believe this very often, but
I do believe it. In Steph Curry's case, you kind
of owed him one.
Speaker 11 (42:12):
Yeah, Oh, I think they felt they owed him one.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
The Warriors did.
Speaker 11 (42:16):
I think they absolutely did, because they have a real
sense of honor about what he has brought to their organization,
what he has done for them financially and otherwise. But
I also think they knew they had this incredible asset
they could maximize. I mean, this guy's one of the
most popular players on Earth in any sport. So keep
him winning, you will keep people coming into the building
and buying his merch.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Yeah. So sometimes it's just a personnel reality. You watched
the Chiefs and the Eagles Philadelphia had too many good
players right and Kansas City couldn't block them. When I
watched the Knicks, I'm like, like the coach. I thought
Michale bridges og trade last year they'd be a good
defensive team getting better. One thing that has become clear
(42:57):
is both Cleveland and Boston attack Cat and they don't
make they go right after him. If the last two
Boston Nick games, I've watched the first quarter both, it
is over. Do you think New York has misgivings about
Karl Anthony Towns because he is a gifted offensive player.
Speaker 11 (43:15):
I mean, if they are, they just weren't very intelligent
about what they were getting. And I don't believe that
that's a smart front office. They know he's not a
defensive center. I mean we all know that. That's why
Minnesota brought in Rudy Gobert. They knew what they were
getting in Karl Anthony Towns. I think they hoped Mitchell
Robinson would be healthier and back earlier than he has been.
But also they thought they'd get better perimeter defense, which
they haven't been getting. They have played so badly defensively
(43:38):
for a Town Thibodeaux team. It's shocking. Yeah, Colin, it is.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
Well, Josh Hart just came back. That'll help Robinson and
Hardle help.
Speaker 11 (43:46):
He did, but he's been in and out. It's not
like he's been just gone for the last couple of months.
I mean they've had guys there, They've had injuries, but
everyone has injuries. This has been just against the three.
They're in the twenty ninth or thirtieth in the league,
depending on the day, and when you look against top
ten offenses again, they are second to last in the
league defensively.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
That's crazy.
Speaker 8 (44:07):
That's crazy.
Speaker 11 (44:07):
Is it hard to hit?
Speaker 1 (44:08):
Honestly? Was that? Was he better than we thought.
Speaker 11 (44:10):
There's so many different ingredients that went into this. It's
who they traded away. It's now having guys who are vulnerable,
like you can attack to Karl Anthony Townsend. Frankly, you
can attack Jalen Brunson because of his size. I mean,
he's such a gritty player. He's been a marvel for them,
but he can't grow. He only is who he is,
and they thought they could shore up some of the
other spots and it just hasn't happened.
Speaker 1 (44:29):
How about you know, I think Daryl Moray's a really
smart guy, really smart guy. But when you put your
arms around certain players and they put their arms around
Embiid And I've always said there are components to him
that are shack like, but he's an odd player for me.
(44:50):
He shoot, he's on a perimeter too often. He's twenty
nine percent from the floor on threes, and he's shooting
more of them that I know. He's gifted. I don't
think he's a bad guy, but I said this earlier.
Sometimes he's the big truck in the garage that it's
broken down again and you can't get it out, like
he's not available. Is mb gonna cost that front office work?
I mean, this thing feels like Rachel it's gone over
(45:14):
the edge.
Speaker 11 (45:14):
I mean, he had swelling again over the weekend and
they're said they're going to get new imaging on his
knee and they're talking about surgery. If it were me,
I would shut him down for the rest of the season.
You're not salvaging anything. And frankly, your draft pick is
top six protected, so if you land outside there, you're
going to have to give up your draft pick. You
want to keep that draft pick, especially considering how this
(45:34):
season has gone. So I would shut him down. I
would get him whatever surgery he needs. He came back
too quickly last year after playing in a game where
he got hurt in the very first place. This whole
source of this injury. He never should have been playing
in the first place, but he was being pressured to
come back and play because of the sixty five game rule,
and he was on this pace and all of this stuff.
He never should have played in that game because he
(45:55):
had missed the game before, and he should never have
come back as early as he did. He is a
who physically with the amount of height and weight and
sort of the way he plays. I don't think is
ever going to be an eighty game player. I mean,
we've seen that. And I think if they treat him
going forward, if they can get him healthy after this
season and treat him going forward as hey, this guy's
gonna play sixty games for us, that's just how it's
(46:16):
going to be. I think they have a chance of
being able to reset here with him and Paul George.
But I would shut down things for the season because
Paul hasn't been healthy either.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin cowher
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
All right, here we are vacation is officially over. Live
in Los Angeles Little New Studio for a while. It's
the Herd wherever you may be and however you may
be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day. Jmax,
we went to different places. You were on the beach.
I had a hammer and nails and was making things happen.
(00:48):
But it's interesting what happened. It was pretty good, pretty
good week to have take off. There wasn't a lot
going on, but over the course of the weekend we
saw some very interesting things happen. And with the Lakers,
with the war, with the Knicks, with the Celtics, and
I want to talk about that. So you know, sometimes
people get blamed for stuff and sometimes they're at fault,
(01:09):
but Jimmy Butler is one of those guys that throughout
his NBA career a lot of finger pointing. Jimmy's a problem.
But I had said about a month ago, the Warriors
need to create some inertia. They're boring. Steph looks bored.
They just look bored. And Jimmy Butler gets people worked up.
He's like, he works hard at practice. He'll get after
(01:29):
a coach. Well, the Warriors are now five and one
since Jimmy Butler arrived. By the way, how are his
old team, the Sixers doing with Joel Embiid. They've lost
seventh straight and Embiid got bench yesterday. And remember Embiid
was the franchise Jimmy Butler in Philadelphia was viewed as
a problem. He was also viewed as a problem in Chicago,
where he led him to the second round of the playoffs,
(01:51):
and they've been unwatchable since. He goes to Minnesota, great
numbers playoffs, they blamed him there. He goes to Miami,
they didn't blame him. Last four years finals twice Miami,
a very strong organization figured out, Hey, Jimmy's not for everybody.
But what Jimmy creates is intensity. And in the NBA. Oh,
(02:15):
these guys are talented. I mean, you don't make the NBA.
Just think of how great you have to be to
be in the NBA. But I would argue there's not
that many winning players. Lebron's not just talented, he's a
winning player. Steph Curry's a winning player. Draymond Green is
a classic. Not as talented as a lot of guys,
but a winning player. Well that's Jimmy Butler. Bulls playoffs,
te Wolves playoffs, Miami Heat Finals, and here he goes
(02:39):
to the Warriors. So the Warriors were kind of a
lifeless offense when Steph was off the floor. Podd's was
like sometimes a one or a two, you can never
count on Wiggins. Well now they have a number two,
and what he's doing, he's getting to the free throw line.
So the Warriors just didn't get to the free throw line.
(03:00):
And that is part of being a winning player. And
that's what Jimmy Butler is right. I just looked this
morning free throws made. They were near the bottom of
the NBA since he arrived, their first of free throw percentage,
bottom of the NBA since he's arrived their second. That
is what a winning player does, and this organization needed fight,
(03:23):
needed feisty, needed to get to the line, needed contact.
And Jimmy is not. By the way, Miami heat one
and five since he left, Warriors five and one since
he arrived. And again I get that Butler's not for everybody,
but this is what I said a month ago. This
is a boring team. They don't have any offensive energy.
If STEP's done on the floor, they're unwatchable. Jimmy Butler
(03:45):
will just create things. He'll get on his coaches, his teammates.
Practice will be harder, and he's a really nice offensive player.
And the thing with Butler, he's not a naturally gifted
offensive player. He is a grinder, so he gets banged up.
He plays hard. But when you watch the Warriors today,
now Pods is their third or their fourth guy. STEP's
(04:06):
there one, Butler's there two. At Kaminga now everybody it's
like a pitching staff that gets a true number two
starter behind their ace and it sets up everybody else
to go against a pitcher that's of the same talent.
So they were asking guys like Pods and to do
things he's not capable of. They wanted more consistency from kaminga.
(04:28):
At this point, you don't know what's get that you
know exactly what you get with Jimmy Butler. He has
created a lot of things. Free throws, free throws made.
They'll be better defensively, better in the half court offense.
And Steve Kerr five and one since he arrived talked
about Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Feels easier right now for US game. You can make
a mistake and keep playing and not feel like, you know,
oh my god, we got we gotta flip things right now.
The trade itself, I think I mentioned this after the
Sacramento game. We just need it, and you know we
felt it. We were kind of treading water. Sometimes you
(05:07):
just you got to shake things up, and we shook
things up.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
For the record, Joel Embiid has become mostly a big
truck that half the time you can't even get out
of the garage. He's getting benched, he won't play back
to backs, and this is an organization where people are
gonna lose their jobs because Embiid is not delivered. He
may have the worst contract now in professional sports. He's
getting hurt more often. I've never seen him as a leader,
(05:33):
but it was Embiid sometimes talent, remember Durant and Westbrook.
Nobody can deny Westbrook's energy, production and talent. And Sam
Presty's a brilliant GM. But Katie's like, I'm the better
player by far. Can I get a little love? And
I think I think Darryl Morey's a smart guy. But
in the end, the Embiid struggles forget getting along with teammates.
(05:57):
Embiid struggles to play well with other Hell, he struggled
at the Olympics. Remember he was the one guy that
didn't work at the Olympics. Butler can work with any team.
There is no team. I don't care if he went
to the Knicks or the Celtics tomorrow. Butler works with
every team. He makes every team better. He gets into
the playoffs. Yes, he can wear you out. Some relationships
(06:20):
don't last forever. Steph Curry doesn't wear people out. Jimmy
can wear people out, but he'll make your basketball team better.
All right, Something else that happened over the weekend. So
this has been a long time coming. And this is
not a shot at Lebron James. But Lebron now is
in what year twenty two Lebron at his best is
(06:41):
going to give you amazing four and five minute flashes
of brilliance. But he cannot be the initiator of the
offense anymore. If Luca sits down, he can be. If
lucas playing and Lebron sits down, Austin Reeves also capable
of being a playmaker. JJ Reddick finally said the quiet
(07:04):
part out loud as the Lakers beat Denver is that
Luca had his highest usage rate as a Laker and
it was his best game. This is how the Lakers
should play because remember, as great as Kyrie Irving was
in Cleveland, he was relegated to a shooting guard with
Lebron and probably should have been as great as d
(07:26):
Wade was in Miami. He was relegated to off ball,
and he's not a great peer shooter. Lebron has been
such a force of nature and so great for so
long that everybody wants him to playoff ball. And AD's great,
but Ad can't be the playmaker. So Lebron's entire career,
it's not that Lebron's selfish. I always use a statistic
(07:47):
with Lebron James, he averaged like twenty eighty game. His
junior year in high school, he could have averaged sixty
his senior year. You know what, he averaged one more
point of senior year. Lebron wants to pass. He likes
to be a playmaker. I've always felt he's more Magic
Johnson than Michael Jordan. He wants others to score, but
he likes to control the offense. Finally, finally, he has
(08:12):
a teammate. This is due to two things. Luca is
a really good playmaker and Lebron's now forty, So the
combination of the two. A transformational young talent in Luca
and the fact that Lebron is older and is great
in spurts. But in the Denver game, when Lebron didn't
have to be the initial, the initiator of offense, his
(08:33):
usage rate was only twenty nine percent. That's well below
his average. Did you also notice, since Luca arrive, what's
happened to Lebron's efficiency. It's gone through the roof. So
he's fresh for those flurries late in the round, late
in the quarter, late in the sequence, late in the half,
late in the game. So this is finally and now
(08:53):
now it's working. Now somebody said this too many years ago,
and it was really smart about Lebron. Whenever you play
with Lebron, you are playing in Lebron's offense. You just
have to figure out.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Kyrie got really frustrated with it. But I think Lebron
because of his age and because I think Luca's even
I mean, listen, Kyrie's an all time talent, but I
think he looks at Luc and goes, Okay. Finally, as
much as I loved Ad, he's not a playmaker. Luca
is Austin Reeves is Lebron is. But this is what
JJ Reddick said after this winning Denver, and this is
(09:28):
the quiet part, finally finally being said out loud.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Luca needs to be the guy that controls the offense
in Bun and Ar because we're going to stagger everybody.
They're going to have their times to be on the ball.
But all three of those guys are very intelligent basketball players,
and we can create mismatches, we can get teams in
the blunder.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Nobody's ever said that like that has been thought about privately,
it's been whispered, it's been you know, it probably be better.
The whole ad time, we kept waiting for the baton
pass that against Denver. That was the baton pass. That
was a moment. That's what I said. I think the
Lakers can play for the Western Conference Finals if they
(10:13):
play like that. You got Ruey in the corner. Austin
Reeves is your third best playmaker, Luke is your primary initiator,
and Lebron off ball. Unless Lucas says, for the record,
Lebron sees it and said this after.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
I'm a natural born wide receiver and he's a natural
born quarterback, so it fits perfectly. You know, I'm I've
been running the floor and running lanes like you know,
pretty much my whole life, and he's been throwing great
passes pretty much his whole life. So it's not it's
not hard to get a rhythm when it comes to that.
You know, it's just all about you know, eye contact
(10:49):
and you know, him being a great quarterback like he is,
and Need being the recipient of it.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
This is not a small thing. This is like been
the discussion for years. This is what Kyrie complained about.
D Wade didn't complain about it. D Wade and spolsterra
figured it out after about two practices. This is gonna
be Lebron's team. Kyrie pushed back, but Lebron was better
at it. Ad I'm not a playmaker. This is what
it can look like. This is what it can look
(11:16):
like at its best. Lucas the playmaker. He initiates it.
Lebron will have more efficiency and more energy late in
the quarter half game and they blow out Denver. And
Denver's a team I don't know in the last fifteen
is Denver fourteen and one? Denver always beats the Lakers
and this wasn't even close. So I don't want to
(11:37):
get too crazy, but this is what I should look like.
J mack Listen. Hockey blew up when I was gone.
Aaron Rodgers, maybe a Ram Colin Wright, Colin wrong. NFL
may screw around with their kickoffs even more. I hope
you had a great time with the fam.
Speaker 7 (11:51):
I did, wife and I went to granm Cayman. So
nice little get away down to the Caribbean. It's good
to be back and hear you saying nice things about Lebron.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Oh my god, that's awesome. Wrong, No, you're right.
Speaker 8 (12:03):
It does feel like we're a little far away.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I feel like I have to wave or maybe cush
out a little louder for the watch that may have
been intentional. Oh shots fired on Sunday, So I will
say this, we are. I'm not gonna tell you why
we're in a makeshift studio. It's amazing how good of
a makeshift studio it was. They told me, Colin'm gonna
have a makeshift studio, and I thought we were gonna
be in a broom closet. So I came up here
this morning with very low hopes. My optimism was it
(12:28):
a low nothing against management. But I went up to
a broom closet and I'm like, all right, it's gonna
be about four months. I can't believe how nice it is.
In fact, you may want to cancel those plans and
use that budget for something else, because I am really
comfortable out here, feeling great. Rachel Nichols. Matt Hasselbeck is
joining us today. Colin right, Colin wrong, don't forget. The
Combine starts Thursday. Very interesting week in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern non a em Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 7 (13:00):
The NASCAR Cup Series is in Texas, where the best
drivers in the world take on the twists and turns
at the Circuit of the Americas. Pre race coverage begins
at two thirty Eastern, with the green flag at three thirty,
only on Fox.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
So mostly when I take a vacation, I stay off
social media. I get out of here. I've been doing
this long enough. There about six to eight weekends or
six to eight weeks during the year that you should
take off. They're slow. So you do the NFL, the
Super Bowl long season. We ask a lot of our staff.
Our staff doesn't take any days off. We're working Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
That's the way it is. So after the Super Bowl
(13:35):
you talk about it for four or five days. Hopefully
it didn't get stomach flu in New Orleans. I think
everybody did, ourselves included. And then you take a week
off and it's quiet. There was a little bit of noise.
And part of it is based on All Star games.
Let me say this, All Star games used to feel
really special. I'm old enough to remember when you know,
you got one baseball game of the week on Saturday
(13:56):
and one on Monday, and there wasn't interleague play, and
I couldn't wait the one, the Baseball All Star Game,
which remains the jewel of all star games, but it
doesn't feel as special. Okay, the Pro Bowl. I've said
this for since I've been a broadcaster. Unwatchable and I
love football Hockey All Star Game so bad they gave
up on it. Get to that in a second NBA
(14:17):
All Star Game. The players make so much money now
they just don't care. And that's natural. Stuff you care
about when you're not worth one hundred and fifty million
may matter more than stuff once you are worth north
of two hundred and fifty three hundred million. A lot
of these stars and I don't want to hear that
(14:39):
NBA guys are bad guys because they love the Olympics.
I'm currently watching something a streaming service, watching something on
USA Basketball and in Paris, and it's wonderful and the
players are like kids and they still care. But all
Star games are done. These guys want time off, you know,
these guys. The NBA just signed a seventy six billion
(15:00):
dollar deal for eleven years. The owners are happy, the
players are rich. Adam Silver's happy. The All Star Games
a shot weekend. Nobody cares. The stars would rather have
it off. The fact that they even show up is laudable,
but it's bad and they're trying to tweak it and
just leave it alone and let it be and let
the young guys shine. It's just a different time in
the NBA. But hockey, to its credit, and that's the
(15:21):
sport that frankly, it's big in Canada. We don't watch
it here a lot, even the Stanley Cup final, we
just don't watch it. So hockey's like our All Star
Game is brutal. So they went and did something called
four Nations Finland, Sweden, Canada, USA. We're gonna face each
other in a tournament. It was fantastic. You couldn't turn
(15:42):
it off. It was unbelievable and it was a convergence
of many things that got ten million viewers for USA Canada.
It was Trump poking Canada, it was Trudeau poking back.
It's USA versus Canada. I've never thought of as as
rivals and the Olympics, I always root for Canada. I
go to Canada every other summer. I love Canada. Okay,
most Americans I know love Canada. If not, we love
(16:04):
their moleson like they're nice people. But you know, we
got a little rivalry tariff talk, so that's part of it.
The fights are part of it. Canada booing us at
our anthem is part of it. And it just made
for an unbelievable week of hockey that you could not
turn off. I thought it was fantastic, and you can
nitpick some stuff about it. Let's not let's enjoy it,
(16:26):
but not everything becomes something greater. Tim Tebow and Denver,
you can't recreate it. Lyn's sanity, Saint Peter's in March, Madness,
the Wildcat offense. You know, we spend so much time
instead of just loving the moment and going, damn, this
is good. Just love the moment. Years ago, I used
(16:47):
to cover boxing. You'd get about one fight every two
or three years. That was magic, and they'd always have
a rematch, and the rematch was never as good, and
generally the sequel in movie making is never as good.
And I just thought this was wonderful. It was a
convergence of format and timing, and we were underdogs and
we were booed, and you couldn't turn it off. You
(17:10):
make Americans underdogs and you get into fights with them
and you challenge us We've got a healthy enough ego
and pride, we're gonna fight back. So I thought it
was wonderful. I give the NHL a ton of credit
for saying, listen, our All Star Game is different. We're
not gonna tweak it, we're gonna blow it up. We're
just gonna do something completely different. And I think that's great.
(17:32):
And Gary Bettman gets a lot of crap. It is
hard to sell hockey in America. Canada does not have
our labyrinth, labyrinth of college and university sports. They don't
have a march madness like us. I mean, high school
sports are big in America, college sports, you know, Division
two sports. We are just wildly distracted. It is hard
(17:56):
to sandwich in Canada's favorite sport and say everybody watch it.
We don't this. We watched. It's just for a moment
due to several factors. Remarkable television, and I loved every
bit of it. But it's not gonna mean anything. We're
not gonna now A lot of hockey games play this
(18:16):
weekend and Americans didn't watch. Just enjoy it. Not everything
needs a sequel. Now you may do this on an
you know, listen, Italy's got the Olympics in the twenty
twenty six, it'll get feisty again. We may in this
country love hockey very situationally Olympics, this tournament, this may
be when we love it. And that's okay. What we
(18:38):
don't love about the NBA is All Star Weekend, and
it's very clear the players don't like it. Draymond Green
was complaining about it. Here's a clip of that.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
I had to work so hard to play on Sunday
night of All Star Weekend. And because ratings are down,
because the games back, we're bringing in rising stars. That's
not a fix. I never played in the Razin Stars
game my first two years. I didn't touch that game.
And these guys get to touch the All Star floor.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yeah. If I was the NBA, I'd leave it alone.
I'm serious, Just like it's not gonna be a big deal.
I'd let the young guys take over. There's tons of
young guys. I think the NBA is listening to their
critics and they're trying to tweak it and fix it.
Just let it be. Nobody really cares. The football season's over.
It's a boring week or two of sports. We're all
waiting for the combine and NFL free agency in March madness. Okay,
(19:34):
here's another thing. Now, some things speaking of you don't
need to fix it, so you have to be careful.
I tell young broadcasters this. Whenever I speak to a
college class. One of the first things I say is,
just don't listen to the noise, trust your instincts, work hard,
keep your head down, don't stay off your phone. Just
(19:55):
that stuff. I'm old enough now I don't care. But
when you're in your twenties and thirties, sometimes I watch
these leagues and they're listening to critics. Don't worry about critics.
I mean, the NBA just signed a mega deal. Who
cares what critics say? Owners happy, players happy, Adam Silver happy.
Now NBC may have reached and overbid. That's my feeling.
They won't be happy, but everybody else will be. But
(20:20):
here's something that the NBA, which is the great tweak league,
and I've always had respect for the NFL, is the
great tweak league. They are constantly tweaking stuff. I've seen
them change the catch rule in a Super Bowl so
this year they tweaked the kickoff. And they have two concerns.
Too many concussions during the kickoff. This had been like
(20:41):
a decade concern and there weren't enough returns, too many touchbacks.
So they tweaked it and people didn't like it. And
I said, at the time, take a deep breath. You
know nobody likes change. Just take a deep breath. I
think it'll be okay when the season's over. Well, the
numbers are in and there's a story this. They want
to tweak it again, and my take is, don't. So
(21:04):
the number one concern was concussions.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Concussions this past year were down seventeen percent historic NFL low.
So it worked. Okay, let's talk about kickoff returns. Oh,
let's look. Oh, kickoff returns rows fifty three percent. In fact,
there were more forty plus yard kickoff returns than in
(21:29):
any year since twenty sixteen. So there were two objectives
with this kickoff rule. I know it looked weird. A
lot of stuff looks weird until you get used to it.
They wanted fewer concussions. Check. They wanted more kick returns,
especially big ones. Check. Do a Vegas dealer move, You're done.
(21:51):
It worked, It's over. And I said, day one, we
all struggle I've used this stat before. Forty percent of
Americans never move away from their zip code. People don't
like change. Like right now in the White House, people
are freaking out. There's a lot of change, a lot
of it good, maybe some not. But people just don't
like change. They don't like it. People don't like to move,
(22:12):
they don't like to move out of their comfort zone.
So the NFL kickoff room, esthetically it was weird looking.
It was like, Okay, they can't move until they grab it.
It's weird. They did that for concussions, So the numbers
are out. They both worked and we had more big returns.
We had more returns by almost over fifty percent, and
(22:33):
concussions were down. And that's exactly. And I'll give the
NFL credit. It's easy to make changes when you're bad.
I always said Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods changed clubs when
he was the number one golfer in the world. That
takes courage. Okay, Oprah Winfrey changed formats when she was
(22:53):
the number one daytime talk show host. That's courage. The
NFL is number one by a mile, and then are
constantly tweaking total respect for that. But the kickoff thing
at worked you got it right. Okay. I want to
go back to the Matt Stafford talk with the Giants
because Albert Breer not on the show today, but somebody
we respect a lot talked about this. So this Stafford
(23:17):
has a bad contract right now and he's made a
lot of money, but he's not happy with it, and
they've kind of put a band aid on it in
the last year. But Stafford, now this stuff gets out
because Stafford and his people want it out. They're unhappy.
And so Albert Breer says, the Giants, the Browns, and
the Steelers and the Raiders have all shown interest. Well,
(23:38):
my take is you could put a caution tape around
those four franchises. Offensively, those are bad danger stay away.
The Rams have two big advantages with Stafford here. Number one,
they're really well run. How many NFL franchises, if I
ask you today, are really well run Baltimore or Kansas City, Philadelphia,
(24:01):
Rams Niners? It's not that many. And how many of
the well run franchises are also well coached? That he
gets down to about six, and the Rams are one
of them. So sometimes your greatest leverage as a company
is we've got our act together. Steelers offensively don't. Giants don't.
(24:23):
Raiders don't. They're running through people. The Browns don't. So
in this you think to yourself, Oh, Stafford's got leverage. No,
Stafford's talented and he's great, and he'd be crazy to leave.
But he spent twelve years in Detroit. Okay, that stuff
doesn't leave you, like they always therapist's always tell you
what happened to you at nine will stick with you
(24:44):
for life, even if you go to therapy. If you're
a bad twelve year relationship in the NFL with your organization,
that stuff doesn't leave. I mean, Aaron Rodgers right now
at a great relationship. Why Stafford was with the Lions,
he was with the Packers. Aaron goes to the Jets
for two years. Oh, you don't think you'd be interested
in the Rams like I've been with a bad franchise.
(25:04):
It is no fun. So to me, Stafford would be
nuts to leave. I think if the Rams went, listen,
we're gonna give you forty million dollars a two year deal.
Eighty million total, forty million, two years, call to day,
you'll be forty it's over. I would take that in
a second. Stafford had won a third year, Probably not
gonna give it to him. It's a much better college
quarterback draft class. And also Aaron Rodgers out there for
(25:27):
a year or two. But when I look at the
teams that are out there, my take is, Matt, you've
made a lot of money. You've made three hundred and
sixty million dollars. If you signed forty million for two years,
you end up making close to four hundred and fifty million,
and you get a super Bowl. And I'm serious here,
Rams for the next two years with Stafford are in
the super Bowl bubble, and I'm not sure how far
(25:48):
they are off. You go to that game against Philadelphia,
more yards, more first downs. They held Jalen Hurst to
about sixty five yards passing. Remember that big completion Jmack
down the right sideline to Puka. We were sitting there going,
wait a minute, are they gonna steal this game? They
haven't even played well. I mean they hadn't even played well,
and they were driving down the field a dome team
(26:10):
essentially so far as a you know, semi dome. They
were driving for the win. And that d line which
destroyed the Commanders and the Chiefs front that after that
completion right there, You're like, holy crap, they're down to
the fifteen yard line. So for Stafford to leave that
(26:32):
I think would be a huge, huge mistake. And I
know j max theory is always strike when the iron
is high. But what if the iron is the Steelers, Giants,
Raiders Brown that's not a hot iron.
Speaker 7 (26:45):
Well let's look at there. Have you looked at the
Rams free agency situation. It sounds like both tackles may
need to be replaced for the rems.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
That's not ideal.
Speaker 7 (26:54):
They don't have a second round pick, I believe because
they had to move up for the kid from the FSC.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Haven Stein is getting old, but is still a top
five right tackle.
Speaker 7 (27:02):
It sounds like Jackson's gonna command a lot of money
on the market. Rams may lose him. So now all
of a sudden, Stafford's looking around like, damn, my tackle
situation's uncertain. After Pooka, Cooper's gonna be gone, I think
two two hours a free agent. I think Robinson's gonna
be looking elsewhere as a free agent. And now you're like, oh,
we got a lot of.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Holes on this team.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
You gotta need to pay me.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Their first pick is gonna be a left tackle, which
will free up money they would have to spend on
their left tackle for Matt Tyler, Higbee, Poka Nakua. They're
gonna draft a receiver, I think with one of their
third round picks, wide receiver. It's not a terribly deep
wide receiver class like previous years, but it's good enough.
(27:43):
I'm gonna say mcvaan. The Rams will score points with
or without Stafford next year. Colin right, Colin wrong next.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noone Eastern not a IM Pacific.
Speaker 9 (27:53):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 10 (27:59):
You could catch usays from five to seven pm Eastern
two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of
course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 10 (28:07):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 9 (28:12):
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.
Speaker 10 (28:20):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right,
So check us out.
Speaker 9 (28:26):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up as they say.
Speaker 10 (28:31):
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on planetar.
Speaker 9 (28:35):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covino and
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
That's Covino and Rich, all right. First hour down in
our new digs, A second hour rolling j Max trying
to get comfortable out there on an island. He just
spent his vacation on him island. He doesn't like this island.
You know what they gave us, j Maac And they
never did this in the old studio Battle Scar glackedic
Go Gigantic, there was no snacks. So you and I
(29:10):
had a couple of food strikes where we would feel
like we were just not being taken care of. So
we come upstairs. Have you seen the pantry? Do you
have me to hold up on the street. It's incredible
I have gone through like twelve sour Patch kids, and
we're only an hour or two in a Monday, So
Matt Hasselbeck's going to be joining us. A lot of
different stuff to talk about. We do it every Monday
(29:30):
at this time. Football or not. Colin Wright Colin wrong,
and here we go where Colin was right. Well, I said,
once they got Luca, it would take a while to
figure it out, and they won't be great defensively, but
either as Denver in the West, but the Lakers will
be a Western Conference Finals participant. They blew out Denver
in Denver, Luca now not Lebron for the first time ever.
(29:53):
Lucas the quarterback and the initiator of the offense, and
Lebron's more the tight end or wide receiver. And I
think it at this point that's the best way to
do it. JJ Reddick deserves a lot of credit. He's
saying the quiet part out loud. Lucas gonna lead the offense,
allowing Austin Reeves and Lebron to be great off ball.
(30:14):
This is how it should work. And JJ Reddick, the
new guys come in. I said this, This franchise now
is Luca and JJ Reddicks. That's not a shot at
Lebron But this game against Denver is what the offense
should look like going forward. Where Colin was raw, there's
a story today that the Vikings are considering re signing
(30:37):
Sam Darnold, and I'm a little confused by this. Not
the franchise tech, which would pay him a lot, So
that tells me JJ McCarthy's injury. There's still some concerns
now Daniel Jones is there, but a free agent. Listen,
I'm not one of these. Sam had a great year,
thirty five touchdown, twelve picks. Is it a lightning in
(30:58):
a bottle moment? A little bit? But I think Sam's
in his prime. He's coachable, he moves, he's got a
good arm, and I think Minnesota's really well coached. But
I will be honest, I thought he was moving off.
I thought he Sam would have a market. I'd be
surprised if the Raiders don't make a real run in him.
So Darnold, according to a story, Vikings open to a contract.
Speaker 8 (31:19):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
I said this before I left, keep your eyes on
Aaron Rodgers. If Stafford leaves to the Rams and pro
football talk is quoting a general manager anonymous GM saying, Yep,
it's being discussed. One of the reasons Stafford and the
Rams are gonna discuss a new deal at the combine
starting Thursday and going through the weekend, I'm told, but
Aaron doesn't want a long term deal. He's been humbled
(31:44):
a little in New York and also after playing in
well run Green Bay, he probably misses a really top
to bottom, well run organization. I'm not saying it's gonna happen,
but I'm not surprised that Aaron, who I actually think
with a staff at the end of last year for
the Jets that was suboptimal. I thought Aaron was pretty
good down the stretch. Story today Rams.
Speaker 8 (32:06):
Are looking where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Well, they got Josh Hart finally back after eleven days off,
but they got I thought the Knicks were going to
be a very good team, better offensively with Karl Anthony
Towns and very good at least as good defensively. They're not.
They're bad defensively.
Speaker 6 (32:25):
Now.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
They're getting Robinson back and Josh Hart came back, but
Boston and Cleveland attacked Karl Anthony Towns and there is
nothing they can do about it again. I thought a
lot of their defense would be solved by Michale Bridges,
a very athletic wing. They cannot defend the three. In fact,
I think their last in the NBA at defending the three.
So of all the Knicks problems, I thought they were
(32:47):
going to be a better offensive team than last year.
Still great defense, they are struggling on the defensive.
Speaker 8 (32:54):
End, where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Never really understood the fascination with Joe l Embid right
now now they've lost seven straight with Joel Embiid. He
got bench yesterday. Listen. I know he's talented, and I
know he's worth something, but they chose em Beide is
the good guy and Jimmy Butler is the bad guy.
And all Butler does is win now with the Warriors
and then with the Miami Heat. I don't understand his game.
(33:17):
He's shooting more threes than ever and he's bad at it,
shooting twenty nine percent. He didn't work in the Olympics
with other star players, so I've never been a huge
Mbat fan. He was gifted an MVP a couple of
years ago because people didn't think it was fair that
Jokis won three straight. Now you're seeing the result of
that huge contract bad news for the Sixers.
Speaker 8 (33:37):
Where Colin was raw Te.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Higgins looks like he could stay in Cincinnati stories today
they are considering strongly a franchise tag now that would
probably overpay him for the short term. But my takeaway
is outside of Burrow and Jamar Chase, who are you paying?
You got one edge rusher. If Philadelphia can pay everybody,
(34:00):
including Dom, they should be able to pay Burrow, Jamar
Chase and d Higgins. He's a really good player. He's durable,
he's got a catching radius. I mean, he can take
a hit, he can block a little. I'm surprised Cincinnati
would open up the wallet.
Speaker 8 (34:16):
Here where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
We were huge proponents of Jimmy Butler to the Warriors,
and they're five and one since he arrived. They didn't
have a consistent number two score. More than that though,
Butler gets to the free throw line, and the Warriors
were bottom of the league in that category. Since he arrived,
their top one to two in the league, and free
throws attempted and free throws made. He's feisty. He is
(34:40):
not a naturally gifted offensive score, but he works for it.
He forces you to guard him and defend him every
time down the floor, and he's the kind of guy
that will challenge teammates. It's his staff, and I just
think they needed to be more interesting, and he delivered
where Colin was right Debo Samuel, the Niners have told
him you have permission to look for a trading partner.
(35:03):
I had said last year. I thought he was the
odd man out. Kittle still playing at an elevated level.
Brandon Aiyuk is there down the field, deep threat. They've
got to play brock Perty. They drafted two receivers Pearsol
late first round. Looks like he can fill that role.
Deebo is a really really good chess piece, and Kyle
Shanahan does wonders with those. I'm not sure if he's
(35:26):
the same player if he gets a defensive head coach
or a staff that doesn't quite understand his value doing
many things besides wide receiver. But he felt like the
odd man out to me during this season and the
stories now San Francisco willing to move Colin Wright Colin wrong.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
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Speaker 1 (35:51):
Okay, so I said my lead today on the show
was for years there's been JJ Reddick said the quiet
part outside, which is for you years and years we've
sort of known, like eventually Lebron needs to play off ball.
But like in Cleveland, he relegated Kyrie to a two
guard and Kyrie didn't like it, right, and it worked,
(36:12):
but I kind of now understand, and Kyrie is so
there's so much dexterity to his game. He's like, I'm
not going to be a shooting guard. D Wade not
as naturally gifted as Kyrie sort of went yeah. So
Luca shows up and JJ says, no, that that's his offense.
Are you shocked it was said out loud.
Speaker 11 (36:33):
No. I think that it was done in a way
that everybody knew what was happening. They waited a few games, right,
it was like, oh, Lucas, he's not quite fitting in
with the Lakers yet, or oh it's conditioning isn't quite there.
It was partly because of the way they were playing, right,
but they have to give deference to Lebron. It's his team.
They have to sort of show that at the beginning,
and we've seen this with the NBA. Coaches do this
kind of thing all the time. If they know they're
(36:53):
going to move a sort of big name vet to
the bench, they'll let that guy play a couple games
as a starter for that season and be like, may
didn't make sense to move it to the bench, even
though they knew that summer all along that's what they
were going to do. Yeah, I think that was the
plan here with Luca and frankly, I think Lebron has
been looking for this. I think Lebron was hoping that
Anthony Davis.
Speaker 1 (37:13):
But Anthony's not a playmaker.
Speaker 11 (37:14):
But he is not a playmaker in that way. He
was never going to be able to do that. So
the fact that he has a guy who can frankly,
extend his career and extend him within games. We've seen
so many games with Lebron you can tell about the
third or fourth quarter, especially defensively, he's starting to wear
down and Luca's just going to take some of that
physical loan off him in so many ways, and just
(37:35):
the pounding he's going to get through the first few quarters.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Yeah, it's interesting. For the record, Anthony Davis has hurt.
The Mavericks are actually playing well, and Kyrie and Luca
got along well, and I may have some misgivings about
some of the stuff with Kyrie and disruptions. He is
an all time offensive talent. If you talked NBA players,
they talk about Kyrie and like Kobe, Reverence can't stop.
Speaker 11 (38:00):
Him either, ask sort of with that, yes, idea of.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
And if he was four inches taller, he would win
an NBA one on one contest. He's just is a
little small to stop guys because he's that good. So
tomorrow Lakers play Dallas. Yes, I saw a story where
they won't let Luca Jerseys in the building in Dallas.
Are you surprised the anger? Now Dallas is playing pretty well,
(38:25):
so that that really has helped the situation, But are
you surprised by the outrage of it? No?
Speaker 11 (38:31):
I mean, look, you know this game tomorrow is going
to be here in Los Angeles, and the big question
there is is Nico Harrison going to sit visibly in
the stands in a way that Luca can see him?
Because that's really the back and forth that we expect
possibly tomorrow, because Luca when he gets amped, and you know,
we've seen him start swearing at fans or kind of
pick a guy out and play. But people are still
(38:51):
so angry in Dallas that later this spring, when Luca
comes to Dallas, I am so fascinated who they're going
to root for. At that point, Dallas is going to
really be trying to make a run into the playoffs.
I don't know what's going to happen, because none of
this has simbered down, none of it. If you talk
to people in Texas, they are just as angry as
they were when this first happened.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Yeah, I still think Dallas has a really good team,
and when Ad comes back, they're going to be a handful.
I really believe. If you think Kyrie is as gifted
an offensive player as the sport has, and there's an
argument if you think Ad is the best defensive player
in the league, I do. You can't tell me. With
all those other parts, Dallas is not a is not
(39:34):
a team capable of getting to the conference final.
Speaker 11 (39:36):
It's just they're going to run out of time this
year with the amount of time that Ad is projected
to miss and Lively is projected to miss, and it
just seems like they're going to run out of time
to be able to coalesce and make a run. And
then you're really betting on next year or the year
after that, and that bet is hedged against the next
ten years of Luca's career. So you had bet on
this one or two year window that the MAVs are
(39:58):
going to be the better team, but you are bet
I against that sometime in the next decade, Luca isn't
going to make you look dumb and win a title.
And I think there's a good chance Luca's going to
win a title here in La.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
So for years, Jimmy Butler, listen, whenever there's a divorce,
there's finger pointing, if not publicly privately, could be Brady
Belichick as a matter if it's Aaron and the Packers.
So Jimmy Butler wins everywhere. He got the bulls of
the playoffs, yep, the t wles of the playoffs, the sixers.
If not for a bounce, the Kawhi bounce. They finally
(40:28):
get to a second round playoff series. So it's the
best series they've ever had Miami last four years. Two finals,
and then he goes to Golden State and it's like, oh,
now they get to the Feederal Line. You cover the league,
so obviously he's too talented to just bounce around. Some
of it's true that he can be a pain in
the butt, but he's also a winning player. Like inside
(40:51):
the league why Miami, I understood he wanted big money
and they're like, we're not going to do it. I
get that, But what is his reputation in the league.
He wins everywhere.
Speaker 11 (41:02):
Everyone knows how good he is, and that, as you said,
every single place he has been he has worn out.
He's welcome. Now, what Golden State is banking on is
this is the end. They've got the contract that he's
going to have for the next couple of years. He
agreed to it. By the time that deal is done,
he'll be thirty seven years old. So they are gearing.
They're sort of betting on the fact that there won't
be some big, crazy blow up, acrimonious ending, and that
(41:24):
in the meantime, he is giving Steph Curry an ending
to his Golden State time. That is competitive, times interesting,
and they're on the same timeline. And before it, just
with Clay gone, Steph was having to carry so much
of the load, and even before Clay left because he
wasn't the player he used to be. Now he's got
another guy. When he's off the court. If you look
(41:44):
at the on off minutes and Jimmy's on the court,
he's making everyone better, even the bench players. And they
just they needed that shot in the arm so badly.
And Steve Kerr said, he gives us the swagger. We
haven't had a trial.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Yeah, And I do think this is I do think
Steph Curry has been such a great states person for
the league. And I don't believe this very often, but
I do believe it. In Steph Curry's case, you kind
of owed him one.
Speaker 11 (42:12):
Yeah, Oh, I think they felt they owed him one.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
The Warriors did.
Speaker 11 (42:16):
I think they absolutely did, because they have a real
sense of honor about what he has brought to their organization,
what he has done for them financially and otherwise. But
I also think they knew they had this incredible asset
they could maximize. I mean, this guy's one of the
most popular players on Earth in any sport. So keep
him winning, you will keep people coming into the building
and buying his merch.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Yeah. So sometimes it's just a personnel reality. You watched
the Chiefs and the Eagles Philadelphia had too many good
players right and Kansas City couldn't block them. When I
watched the Knicks, I'm like, like the coach. I thought
Michale bridges og trade last year they'd be a good
defensive team getting better. One thing that has become clear
(42:57):
is both Cleveland and Boston attack Cat and they don't
make they go right after him. If the last two
Boston Nick games, I've watched the first quarter both, it
is over. Do you think New York has misgivings about
Karl Anthony Towns because he is a gifted offensive player.
Speaker 11 (43:15):
I mean, if they are, they just weren't very intelligent
about what they were getting. And I don't believe that
that's a smart front office. They know he's not a
defensive center. I mean we all know that. That's why
Minnesota brought in Rudy Gobert. They knew what they were
getting in Karl Anthony Towns. I think they hoped Mitchell
Robinson would be healthier and back earlier than he has been.
But also they thought they'd get better perimeter defense, which
they haven't been getting. They have played so badly defensively
(43:38):
for a Town Thibodeaux team. It's shocking. Yeah, Colin, it is.
Speaker 1 (43:42):
Well, Josh Hart just came back. That'll help Robinson and
Hardle help.
Speaker 11 (43:46):
He did, but he's been in and out. It's not
like he's been just gone for the last couple of months.
I mean they've had guys there, They've had injuries, but
everyone has injuries. This has been just against the three.
They're in the twenty ninth or thirtieth in the league,
depending on the day, and when you look against top
ten offenses again, they are second to last in the
league defensively.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
That's crazy.
Speaker 8 (44:07):
That's crazy.
Speaker 11 (44:07):
Is it hard to hit?
Speaker 1 (44:08):
Honestly? Was that? Was he better than we thought.
Speaker 11 (44:10):
There's so many different ingredients that went into this. It's
who they traded away. It's now having guys who are vulnerable,
like you can attack to Karl Anthony Townsend. Frankly, you
can attack Jalen Brunson because of his size. I mean,
he's such a gritty player. He's been a marvel for them,
but he can't grow. He only is who he is,
and they thought they could shore up some of the
other spots and it just hasn't happened.
Speaker 1 (44:29):
How about you know, I think Daryl Moray's a really
smart guy, really smart guy. But when you put your
arms around certain players and they put their arms around
Embiid And I've always said there are components to him
that are shack like, but he's an odd player for me.
(44:50):
He shoot, he's on a perimeter too often. He's twenty
nine percent from the floor on threes, and he's shooting
more of them that I know. He's gifted. I don't
think he's a bad guy, but I said this earlier.
Sometimes he's the big truck in the garage that it's
broken down again and you can't get it out, like
he's not available. Is mb gonna cost that front office work?
I mean, this thing feels like Rachel it's gone over
(45:14):
the edge.
Speaker 11 (45:14):
I mean, he had swelling again over the weekend and
they're said they're going to get new imaging on his
knee and they're talking about surgery. If it were me,
I would shut him down for the rest of the season.
You're not salvaging anything. And frankly, your draft pick is
top six protected, so if you land outside there, you're
going to have to give up your draft pick. You
want to keep that draft pick, especially considering how this
(45:34):
season has gone. So I would shut him down. I
would get him whatever surgery he needs. He came back
too quickly last year after playing in a game where
he got hurt in the very first place. This whole
source of this injury. He never should have been playing
in the first place, but he was being pressured to
come back and play because of the sixty five game rule,
and he was on this pace and all of this stuff.
He never should have played in that game because he
(45:55):
had missed the game before, and he should never have
come back as early as he did. He is a
who physically with the amount of height and weight and
sort of the way he plays. I don't think is
ever going to be an eighty game player. I mean,
we've seen that. And I think if they treat him
going forward, if they can get him healthy after this
season and treat him going forward as hey, this guy's
gonna play sixty games for us, that's just how it's
(46:16):
going to be. I think they have a chance of
being able to reset here with him and Paul George.
But I would shut down things for the season because
Paul hasn't been healthy either.
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