April 21, 2025 • 47 mins
DP recaps the first few games of the NBA playoffs. Senior NBA Insider Chris Haynes discusses the Lakers' playoff struggles and casts doubt on Giannis finishing his career in Milwaukee. NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. breaks down his draft board ahead of the NFL Draft this week and shares why he never looked back on not becoming an NFL GM.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio. It's great to be back.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We will be doing our show in Green Bay starting
on Wednesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and first come, first serve
as far as a studio audience. Once we get to capacity,
then we will have to close the doors. We'll do
a meet and greet on Wednesday night at the Bar
on Home Grown Way. That'll be from four to six
and there's no admission fee there. Basketball yesterday over the weekend,
(00:31):
the Pacers are a sneaky good team. I know they're
facing a banged up Bucks team without Dame Lillard, but
they win nuggets and overtime over the Clippers. The Knicks,
I thought they were going to lose to the Pistons,
and then there was a twenty one to notzhering run
and the Knicks survive Game one, the Timberwolves over the Lakers,
and then yesterday the Thunder beat the grizz by fifty
(00:55):
one points. That's the largest Game one victory margin of
victory in NBA history. Fifty one points, the largest in
a playoff game since twenty fifteen. And you're watching the
game and I felt bad for Mike Breen, he's the
play by play voice, and I'm going, Mike, you're gonna
have to do some Phil You're gonna have to tell
(01:17):
some stories with Richard Jefferson here and Doris Burke because
this game is going to get out of hand early.
The Lakers somehow were surprised at the physicality of the Timberwolves.
I never understood that. I don't know if I'd ever
admit that where I go. Yeah, dang man, they play physical.
(01:38):
Luca played well, but the rest of the team didn't
hold up there under the bargain, and Minnesota came after
them and didn't let up and picked up the victory there.
But you know, you can't lose games at home, can't,
not first round, can't. And you can't be surprised at
the physicality of a team there, but they were. But
(02:01):
Luca did have a respectable game, but you know, Minnesota
had a balance to attack here. Oh, Claoma City, they're
a cute story. They're no longer a cute story. They're
a real story. And I think sometimes we get caught
up and he go, oh that team out there, and
Oklaoma City, Oh look at them. How many wins do
they have? They went sixty eight and fourteen. They dominated.
(02:23):
You got some other players on that team. I know
they're going to have the MVP in Shay Jalen Williams
is a rising star. Chaed Holmgren maybe a future Defensive
Player of the Year winner. They got a really good bench.
The Thunder no longer a cute story. They're a problem.
They are They're a real problem. And sometimes you'll see
teams I mentioned this with Houston. Houston lost to Golden State.
(02:45):
There are certain teams that go into the playoffs and
it's almost like it's a fact finding mission. It's like
a school trip. You're like, let's go see what that's like. Hey,
let's go into the playoffs and see what that's like,
and then we can kind of collect our thoughts and
then get ready to go into next season. Now, I'm
not going to say that they're not going to beat
(03:06):
Golden State. I will be surprised if they beat Golden State,
only because of Golden State has been there. I mean,
if you look at just Steph Curry, Steph has more
playoff games than the entire roster. Then you throw in
Draymond Green, then you throw in Jimmy Butler, then you
throw in some of these bench guys, then you throw
in Steve Kerr. It's an incredible advantage for them. And
(03:27):
you saw with Steph and Playoff Jimmy, they're probably the
best tandem in the NBA. And I thought, you know,
Luca and Lebron the way they were playing at the
end of the regular season, and I would probably still
side with them. But probably the general consensus is Steph
and Playoff Jimmy the best tandem. But the Cabs rolled,
(03:49):
they beat the Heat, but the Warriors beating the Rockets.
I'm not surprised at that at all. It's just different basketball,
and there's certain teams. Oklahoma City, they were on a
fact finding mission last year, then all of a sudden,
you go, Okay, what did we learn? Go down through
history a lot of times you have to lose to
learn how to win. What does it take? What do
(04:10):
we do, what didn't we do? What do they do
better than us? And I think that's what you're seeing
with Okacie Cleveland, big question mark there. They were great,
best team in the East during the regular season. The
general consensus is what the Boston Celtics, and rightfully so,
that team is so Deep. It feels like everybody can
shoot a three. You could probably get the trainer out
(04:33):
there and he might be able to be respectable from
three point range. Everybody and then an oh, by the way,
Derek White, you know Olympian. See that's the dangerous part
of this. When Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum aren't great
but they're great, that's when you win championships.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yes, Marvin, have we ever disrespected a team like the
Boston Celtics, And I don't mean that like purposefully, but
we didn't talk about them at all all season long
and they were the defending champs with the best starting
five in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
But it might be a compliment that we've just taken
them for granted, that there's certain players and certain teams
that they get elevated and then we go, Okay, we
told that story. Now let's move on, because that's really
we're in the storytelling business. What's the story you're telling
about the Celtics this year? Man? Can if the good
(05:28):
Rod Deep Ross, how about Peyton Pritchard? You know, I mean,
you just we run out of ways to describe somebody,
and a lot of these teams you don't look at
where they are in the playoff seedings. The same thing
with San Antonio. People would get caught up in oh man,
are you going to be the number one seed and
(05:49):
have home court advantage. Spurs didn't care. They were like,
we use the regular season to get ready for the postseason.
Certain teams are like, we use the regular season to
make the postseason. Boston uses the regular season, just like
the Patriots. They used the first three or four games
of the regular season for their training camp, like this
(06:10):
is our preseason, and then they use the regular season
to get ready for the postseason. And that's a compliment
to them. All Right, Seaton's not here today, So I'm guessing, Todd,
are you doing the poll question? I do have the
odds to win the NBA Championship? OKC is your favorite,
Then it's the Celtics, and then a distant third the Cabs.
(06:33):
Really distant fourth is the Warriors, and then even further
down the list is the Lakers. It does feel like
it's a two race, two team race. But the Cavaliers.
Cavaliers are a lot of fun. And I was watching
last night. You might go, who's this guy who's lighting
up the Miami Heat. Ti Jerome. Well, Ty Jerome played
(06:55):
for Virginia and I remember when he was playing and
mcleven and I went back and forth because he goes,
this Virginia team isn't good. I said, man, this they
can shoot, they can shoot. And Ti Jerome, who's that?
I said, I don't know who he is, but I
know he can shoot. All of a sudden, Ti Jerome
(07:15):
pops up and you go, I'll be damned. It took
a while, but he had a couple of games this
year that got on the radar and I went that dude,
and they went at Tyler Hero last night. It was
not nice. It was not nice. That's where you needed
parental guidance because I'm going, damn. Everybody wanted Tyler Hero
(07:37):
guardian last night. But Ti Jerome went at him. And
you know they did a great job. Great job, Yes, poet, I.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Had to look up Ti Jerome. I couldn't lie to you.
He's been on four teams in six years. He's played
six seasons and only started ten games.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, wow, but he can shoot. He can. He got
some buckets. He had twenty eight points and win. That's
the most by any Cavalier in their first NBA playoff
game since Kyrie had thirty against the Celtics back in
twenty fifteen. Stat of the day, stat of the day,
that past stat of the day, stat of the.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Day, here comes that what stat of the.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Day, Thank you, Will Ferrell. Stat of the day, brought
to you by Panini America. And you try not to
get caught up in one loss, you know, I like that.
Ja Moran says, you know, we won't play this way
next time around against Okay, see wow, stop the presses.
You won't play that badly. You're gonna play a little better.
It's almost one of those where he could say if
(08:40):
they lose by fifteen, see I told you we weren't
gonna play that bad. We're improving here. But that was
there was no pulse. Yeah, the body that there was
no pulse. There was a corpse. But sometimes you'll have
these big blowouts and then you know these teams flipped
the switch on you, and maybe have that with Memphis.
(09:02):
I don't see it, just because I think Okac knows,
let's be great. We were great. Continue to be great.
Don't take anybody for granted, and don't be surprised. The
Lakers were surprised. That's what surprises me. Wait a minute, guys,
come on, you know, and it's not like Memphis is
(09:25):
Minnesota is Memphis Minnesota. They can play for a title,
and that's where you just you can't be goofing around here.
Take something for granted.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Yes, Mark Lakers, Hey, this is the team that beat
the Denver Nuggets last year in the playoffs. They took
jokij out. So why are we surprised that nas Reed
and Julius Randall are being physical with them? Did he
not see the Scott report?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
But then JJ Riddick says hey, and Lebron said that, hey,
we were kind of surprised at their physicality. There should
be no surprises right now. You play together long enough,
you got you know, Luca playing well. And I really
think that they have a chance to play, you know,
for in the Western Conference finals. I mean, I really do.
But it comes down to defense. But I didn't think
(10:12):
physicality was going to be the difference. But it was
all right, Uh poll questions don.
Speaker 6 (10:19):
Uh, we're a roll with this one from Paulie. I
think the Thunder will win the NBA title? Sure, too early, okay, yeah, sir?
Or too early okay?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I don't think they're better than the Celtics. I think
I think they're a great team. This is one of
those where they don't get a lot of publicity, just
like the Cavs didn't get a lot. You know, we
the media steers you where they want to steer you.
They guide you. So when you turn on ESPN or Fox,
(10:57):
they're going to guide you to where they're going to
guide you any place else maybe the Nicks, maybe they're
gonna guide you to well, Memphis because Jaw's in trouble.
Where else are they guiding you? Therefore, you really don't
have a unless you watch these games. You don't have
(11:19):
a good opinion, a strong opinion on a team because
you're like, oh, okay, see I see the highlights. Yeah,
all right, SGA and he's really good. But that's all
you know. And then you'll see some of these other
teams and you'll go, oh, wow, I was watching the Pistons, man,
they're pretty good. It's because the media will hold your
hand and take you where they want to because that's
(11:41):
where the stories are. And we do a disservice to
some of these other teams that play really well. And
that's why I'm Glad Sga is getting recognized because he
has been great and players will say this, and they've
said this, Jokers the best player in the game. But
they're happy that Sga is going to be the MV pick,
(12:03):
like he he deserves to win the MV pick because
of what the team did during the regular season. So
that'll give you a sense of the players know. But
is anybody talking about the Indiana Piecers. The WNBA team
in Indiana gets more, you know, headlines, credit attention than
the Pacers do. The Pacers are a really good team,
(12:25):
but once again, the media does not guide you there.
The only member of the media who does is Pat
McAfee because he's in Indianapolis. But there will be some
interesting stories that come out. And if you haven't watched Detroit,
yes they did blow the lead the Knicks twenty one
to nothing run. But Kate Cunningham is real. He is
(12:49):
a real star. Yeah, Paully, I.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Didn't want to bring this up so early, but I
was watching thunder Grizzlies. I'm just looking at that. I
don't know all the Grizzlies players and like, oh, Scotty
Pippen June on the team, and I think he got
the start for the Grizzlies. He spells his first name
s c O T t y. His father, Scotty Pippen
Senior spells it s c O T T I E
m hm. That blew my mind. I always thought if
(13:13):
you named your son after you, that exact same spelling of.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
The name back to you. Okay, thank you, Paulin break
it down. Yeah, it's worth break breaking into programming. Wo no, young,
you can do it.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
I guess who stell of the day? Style of the day,
start of the day, stell of the day. This is
the stele of the.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Day, Paulie, would you stay on that story? Please? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I E?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Or why with Scottie Pippen Junior the third Now it's
in your head though, is he junior? No, it's gone?
Speaker 5 (13:53):
Is he?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Is he junior?
Speaker 7 (13:55):
He is Scottie Pippen junior.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
But it's s c O T T Y again.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Okay, his father I E I E E Yes.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
I gotta tell you.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
I found that kind of interesting as well.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Now that poly mention, that's not a good sign.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
No it's not.
Speaker 7 (14:09):
No.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Oh, Fritzy, Fritzy sent this to me. He was a Hey,
Luca's number is seventy seven. I go okay, And do
you realize seventy seven days after they traded Luca, the
Mavericks were eliminated from the playoffs.
Speaker 7 (14:23):
Fascinating.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, I go okay. My thing numerology, I know it is,
I know, love it, I know. But did you notice
that no one responded to you as well?
Speaker 5 (14:34):
I totally annoyed.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
I didn't get a k or a thumbs up or
a smiley thing.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
I was way too busy for some rey. I don't
know what I was doing, but I'm sure I was
way too busy to then, you know, very nice respond
to your seventy seven seventy seven.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
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Speaker 5 (15:18):
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Speaker 2 (15:57):
The Chimberwolves beat the Lakers Minnesota made a franchise playoff
record twenty one to three pointers. So when JJ Reddick
and Lebron say, hey, you know, we were surprised at
the physicality of that, well, okay, but what about the
three pointers that you gave up twenty one Let's talktor
Chris Haynes senior NBA insider and host of the Haynes
(16:18):
Briefs show on YouTube. He is covering the Bucks and Pacers,
and then he's going to go to the Rockets and
the Warriors. Worst first round lost so far turned in
by who.
Speaker 10 (16:32):
Hmm, Well, I mean I think you definitely got I
mean the worst. I think you say the worst by
a point differential. You can say to Memphis Grizzlies. You
know the way they lost to Oklahoma City. But I
think most people believe that Oklahoma City is going to
get out of the first round relatively unscathed. But the
team you just talked about right now, the Lakers and
(16:53):
the Minnesota Timbwolves, even though that's not I understand the
Lakers have the higher seed, but I think that's a
prey even matchup. And I think when you look at
the athleticism, you look at the dog of Anthony Edwards,
and you just look how they went into LA and
took care of business in the threes. Those threes were
opened up by driving penetration overhelping Anthony Edwards would be
(17:15):
able to get to whatever he wanted to get to
on the court, and it was setting up guys and
guys found the rhythm and once they found it, they
didn't let go of that rhythm.
Speaker 8 (17:23):
So the Lakers have some issues for sure.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
The Memphis loss like it was laughable, Like after a while,
you're just going, I mean, does Memphis have any pride here?
And I know we see teams turn it around, get
blown out, and then they come back and they'll make
it competitive, maybe win that game. But Oka C seems
to have learned something from last year like that. It
(17:47):
feels like they understand, you know, how to be a
playoff team. I don't know if you have them going
to the NBA Finals.
Speaker 10 (17:58):
Put me on the spot, DP, I haven't made a selection. Nobody,
nobody has ever asked me yet for my prediction. I
got them in the.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Clint Waits you know have started, Chris, you know how
this works. You can't wait till you know.
Speaker 10 (18:19):
Well, usually, DP, Usually that's how it works. Like if
you don't get asked, because now, because now you get
to see these games, go on to see a trend
and then somebody they might ask you in the semi
finals round, then I'll have a better gaze.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
Then I'll look much more smart, smarter, and brighter than.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
You give me your two favorites to win.
Speaker 10 (18:38):
The favorite two favorites, I would say, okay, see come
out the West and Boston to come out the East.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Okay, then give me your other two. Following them.
Speaker 10 (18:51):
The other two I would have to go with. God's tough,
you know. I want to say Denver. I want to,
but there's been so much the team is different, changing
of a coach. I think that series with the Clippers
is going to go seven games. I don't know who's
coming out. I want to say Denver.
Speaker 8 (19:11):
DP.
Speaker 10 (19:11):
Don't hold me to that. Please, don't hold me to that.
I want to say Denver. But in the East, I
understand Cleveland had the best record over there for the
most part. Oh boy, there are about a few other
teams that I can see making noise in the East.
I think if New York gets on the run, they
(19:32):
can do some things. I think if Damian Lillard gets back,
I think the Bucks and Giannis can do some things.
It's tougher in the East for me, DP, I will say,
I will say between New York.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
And Milwaukee, a team not in the playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks,
the Trey Young situation. Yeah, you look at his numbers
and you go God those are great numbers, but I
don't know what kind of I mean. I can watch
him play, but it just seems like he's going to
put up really good numbers for a team that nobody
(20:06):
really cares about. And I wonder does he need to
be on another team to show how good he can
really be, how clutch he can be playing in big moments.
And I don't know, like Dame Lillard, and maybe it's
not a fair comparison, but we look at Dame and go, God,
he's playing great and meaningless games for the most part,
(20:27):
and then all of a sudden he gets traded and
it's at the latter part of his career. I don't
know if the Hawks are at that point where they yo.
You know, maybe we're better off without Trey Young. What
do you think?
Speaker 8 (20:39):
So?
Speaker 10 (20:39):
I had Trey on my show, The Hainsbury Show on YouTube.
Everybody check it out. I had him on my show
last week and I asked him about that DP, just
about where he's at with the organization, with his career,
and he said he's.
Speaker 8 (20:53):
In a good spot.
Speaker 10 (20:54):
He said he knew that there was going to be
speculation once the Hawks went to a younger core had
the number one pick. He knew there was gonna be
speculation about his future, but he said he bought in.
He took the you know, Zach number one pick. He
brought him to his hometown in Oklahoma to show him around,
to spend some time with him right after Zach was drafted,
just to get him engaged.
Speaker 8 (21:15):
And so he's somebody.
Speaker 10 (21:17):
Who again just just told to me about a week
and a week and a half ago that he's down
with the process. He wants to see this Atlanta Hawks
squad turn the corner, and he wants to be a
pivotal partner. And then dp he changed his game this
past season like he was more I think we know
that trade is a great facilitator, but he modified his
(21:38):
game like it wasn't just shoot first trade. You know,
this was a guy who was getting guys involved. And
so that that speaks to his maturity, and that speaks
to you know, him trying to empower his teammates. But
with that being said, there definitely are teams out there
who are monitoring his situation and trying to see if
there's going to become a point this all season where
(21:58):
that he can be had and where he can be
moved because he's definitely a guy who want. Like Trey
is one of the most competitive guys in this league.
When he went to that conference finals a few years ago,
played against the you know, he wanted, he wanted to
continue on. He wanted the organization to do things, to
make moves to keep the team on the trajectory. Now
(22:18):
they took it a little backstep of the you know
in recent years. He wants to get back to that point.
But as of now, DP, I can say I haven't
heard anything on Trey side that will lead me to
believe that he wants out right now.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Will Yannis finish his career in Milwaukee.
Speaker 10 (22:35):
I don't think so. I don't think so. I just
you know, this is going to be a pivotal playoff.
This the twenty twenty five playoffs for the Milwaukee Bucks.
It's going to be pivotal, you know, will if they
don't get to the finals, win the finals, or even
make a deep run, you can probably see some wholesale
(22:57):
changes going on in Milwaukee from you know, you can
go from coaching staff, from front office to the players,
like it can be a pretty big significant wholesale if
Milaukee Bucks don't make a significant run this postseason.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Could you see them trading Joannis?
Speaker 10 (23:14):
I could see them going in a different direction, And yeah,
I can see that possibility if things go sour this postseason,
for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
He's Chris Haynes, senior NBA insider, host of the Haynes
Briefs show on YouTube. He's covering Bucks Pacers for Game
two and then heading to the Rockets and the Warriors.
You know, the Warriors winning the game against Houston and
then we see that playoff experience that they have and
Golden State, to me, is a fascinating situation because can
(23:47):
you do this? Can you win four games? Can that group?
You know, because that's what it takes every one of
these series, you can say, are you able to win four?
And I think they I think they could go to
the Western Conference Finals. And I don't know if anybody
would be surprised, but would you be more surprised if
(24:07):
the Warriors went to the Western Conference Finals or the
Lakers did.
Speaker 10 (24:12):
I would be more surprised as the Lakers went to
the Western Conference Finals because the Golden State Wars, they
still have their nucleus in place, and they've upgraded in
Jimmy Butler, somebody who fits seamlessly in what they're trying
to do on the offensive end and defensive end.
Speaker 8 (24:25):
The Lakers, we knew there was going to be some
growing pains.
Speaker 10 (24:29):
You're talking about two Hall of Fame basketball players, but
they have very similar ways of playing the game and
they both require the ball and it's worked better than
what I thought when I'm talking about Lebron James and
Luca doctors. But we're talking about going to State, man,
they're just plugging in.
Speaker 8 (24:46):
You know. They Jimmy Butler with.
Speaker 10 (24:47):
Somebody who could fit, and he saw what he did,
clutch baskets after clutch baskets, making plays, and he's somebody
that doesn't have to take a lot of shots to
be efficient. And so I think if you know, talking
about the Lakers and Warriors, I think the Warriors will
have an easier path to get to the get to
the finals than the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Best in basketball right now is who.
Speaker 10 (25:11):
Are we talking about in the playoffs or overall?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Let's do playoffs?
Speaker 8 (25:18):
DP.
Speaker 10 (25:19):
You know what, DP, You're really good at what you
do because you know this is this is why, this
is why you get a lot out of Charles Barkley.
You know, you know how to answer. You know how
to ask the right questions. You never know what you're
going to ask and it requires an answer.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
So let me say, now you were stalling with the compliment.
I see right through you, Chris.
Speaker 10 (25:40):
Okay, this works here, that's why you do.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Do you think there's a better tandem not in the
playoffs than in the playoffs? No?
Speaker 10 (25:50):
I can't say that, Okay, and I would get ridiculed
for even saying there's a better tantent that's not in
the playoffs, because if they were, they would be at
the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
You're stalling once again by saying regular season play homes.
Speaker 10 (26:03):
Okay, let's let's allow me to go. I don't want
to disrespect the champions.
Speaker 8 (26:10):
Allow me to go. Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown? Is that safe?
Is that safe? After DP?
Speaker 7 (26:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
But I don't want safe. Do you really feel that
right now the best tandem in basketball is Tatum and
Brown over Jimmy Steph, Luca Lebron.
Speaker 8 (26:32):
The best talent in basketball pound for pal is No,
we're not.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
We're just best tandem.
Speaker 5 (26:38):
Will you stop?
Speaker 2 (26:40):
You're better than this.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
Lebron?
Speaker 8 (26:47):
Luca?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Okay, see that's not that hard.
Speaker 8 (26:50):
It actually was.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Which team did the best job of tanking for Cooper Flag.
Speaker 8 (26:59):
You know what it was.
Speaker 10 (27:00):
There was a lot of teams that had a really
good job. You know, I'm going to go with the
Utah Jazz. They let it be known pretty early on.
They put out a They put out a release and
just basically said, these seven guys aren't playing for the
rest of the season.
Speaker 5 (27:18):
You know, it was these minor injuries.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
The NBA Awards season, you have to play at least
sixty five games. I was wondering Jared Jackson Junior. I
thought was gonna win the Defensive Player of the Year.
He's not one of the finalists here.
Speaker 8 (27:39):
How many games did he plays?
Speaker 2 (27:42):
He played seventy four, but he's not one. So it
wasn't even one of those where because it's that super
Max deal. If he wins Defensive Player of the Year again,
and I thought with Victor wen Been Yama out, then
he was the favorite. He's not even one of I
got Dyce and Daniels, Draymond.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Dra Well d P.
Speaker 10 (28:09):
Draymond's had a phenomenal season. But you know, Dyson Daniels
leads the league in steals. Evan Mobley I would have
you know, I felt like all along Evan Mobley might
have been the front runner to win that award award
what he's done with Yeah, I do think I think
(28:30):
so as well. I think he's the favorite. But Jared Jackson,
you know, it was a tough this was a tough
one this year. And and DP, I'm telling you I
don't have a vote this season, which I'm glad because
DP around this time, you know, players that have those
claus in their contract, they start to call me around
the last two weeks of the season, Hey, you know
(28:53):
my situation, who are you voting for it?
Speaker 8 (28:55):
And it just puts me in a tough spot.
Speaker 10 (28:57):
I'm not gonna name names, but I've had multiple players
call me constantly over the path last you know, the
lab but the last two weeks of the season, just
to get a gauge, and I'm like, damn, man, that's
that's tough about to.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Be anybody try to buy your vote, like saying, hey,
Chris uh Man, I got these new Jordans and what
changes do you wear? Or hey, you know once you
go out go out to dinner, you know, maybe made
me go to Cabo. I'll make sure you take care
of you.
Speaker 10 (29:27):
They haven't said that they haven't tried to buy it.
But what they did do they do? They do try
to propose an appearance.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
You know what.
Speaker 10 (29:35):
Hey, you know they the way they say it, like, hey,
you know what, you have a nice show. I could
think about coming home if.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Great to talk to you DP any time.
Speaker 8 (29:52):
Man, you take care of brother.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Best tandem in the NBA is who Luca?
Speaker 10 (30:02):
All right?
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I just want to make sure, thank you, Chris.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
W APP taking part in his forty second NFL Draft,
Mel Kuiper Draft Expert. He'll be at the ESPN desk
for every pick of the NFL Draft starting Thursday. But
before the draft, listen to the final episodes of the
First Draft Podcast with Melfield Yates in Mike Greenberg available
wherever you get your podcast, Mel joining us on the program.
(30:35):
Why do so many opinions seem to shift based on
stuff that's not from actual games that these players play.
Speaker 7 (30:44):
It's college the pro Dan, That's what makes it so
so difficult. You're seeing guys play in college against players
who will not be in the National Football League, so
you're not getting apples to apples. And then some games
you want to watch an offensive tackle, but the defensive
ends going on the right side or side opposite where
the player you want the one on one to be,
so you get little snippets, okay, snapshots here and there
(31:06):
of a player against another great player. That's why senior
bowl practices are so important because you're getting good on good.
You don't get that in college on a regular basis,
so a lot of times the stats can.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Be skewed one way.
Speaker 7 (31:17):
You can have great numbers against I call am aog
s DAN another occupation. Guys, that's what they are. You know,
they're aogs. That's what you go up against in college.
I can win that phrase years ago. That's what it
is because that's college football. That's the same thing when
you talk about high school. It's tough to go from
one level to the next and be accurate with your evaluation.
So when you end today, it's over evaluation too, because
(31:40):
you're talking about so much time between the end of
the season until late April that you do kind of
overthink it and you do factor in things that maybe
shouldn't be as heavily weighed because it's so much time
and it is level to a different level, and you
have to look at everything possible to try to make
a good evaluation. Certainly, Dan, a lot of scouts believe,
and funeral managers later in the draft, take the talented kids.
(32:03):
Bill Polli and Hall of Fame were always told him, no,
take the talented guys later in the draft. The guys
are call him under achievers, Dan, but they have a
big time skill set and for one reason or another,
they got dinged in the process a bit. Take those
kind of guys in the fifth, sixth, seventh round or
bring him in his undrafted free agents.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
How do you grade Travis Hunter considering there's two positions.
Speaker 7 (32:24):
He's it's a hard decision on wide receiver and corner
when you have other players that are fully invested in
that one spot. So you say, Okay, Travis didn't play
just wide receiver, he didn't play just corner. He was
out there every play, every snap. That to me prevents
him from being as good at one or the other
(32:44):
that he could be.
Speaker 5 (32:45):
So even with that said, Dan.
Speaker 7 (32:47):
He's my number one wide receiver and he's my number
one corner, and it's amazing that he would just focus
on one position, how great he could be. So to me,
Travis is as unique as any player in the history
of the draft because he is going to play both ways.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Right away, dion said it perfectly.
Speaker 7 (33:02):
You're not going to have a drive at the end
of the first half, or a drive in the fourth quarter,
or two drives in the fourth quarter, settling that game
that outcome and have Travis Hunter standing on the sidelines
when our cornerbacks are getting beaten in the quarterbacks, driving
his team right down the field against my defense. You
can't have that. So Dionna is perfectly correct. It's a
thousand percent correct on that this kid's got to play
both ways.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Do you love or love love Shador Sanders?
Speaker 7 (33:26):
Like really love Shador Sanders. I tried to be loyal
to what like I said August and what I thought
throughout their careers. And I understand if you want Dan
somebody who looks the part. I call them ltpeers. That's
what they are. They're ltpers. There's a couple other guys
that that's positioned that are more physically gifted. Okay, when
I talk about arm strength, when I talk about just
imposing size, the rocket arm, the four six speed. There
(33:50):
are other quarterbacks that have that, Dan, if you want that,
take those guys. If you want a kid who can
just surgically take a team down the field, pick you apart,
see things, recognize things, diagnose, make decisions that are sound. Also,
get the ball to accurate points and precise points to
a receiver, and hang in tough in that pocket, take
(34:12):
hits and keep getting up. Don't point fingers, don't assign blame.
Win football games. He didn't have a running game for
two years of Colorado. Dan, his leading rusher, upset it
for the last month, his leading rusher the last two years.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
The two top running.
Speaker 7 (34:24):
Backs in this draft, genty and Hampton, would have had
more yards in a game.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
And a half then they had the whole year.
Speaker 7 (34:28):
Think about that and an offensive line, Dan, you saw
that offensive line that was a bad group in twenty
twenty three, a little bit better in twenty four. But
bottom line is he had no chance, and a lot
of those snaps he had no shot.
Speaker 5 (34:39):
So I'd give him a lot of credit, Dan, But.
Speaker 7 (34:41):
If he's not the guy that you want physically, and
you can't reconcile taking a guy that high, I get it.
But does that not mean that, hey, in the mid
late first round, he can't be a heck of a pick.
And all this notion too, Dan, Well, if you love them,
or you'll like them, whatever, if you'll just like them,
you can't take them. Well, I give you an example.
In nineteen eighty four, Dan, my first year at ESPN,
(35:02):
I had Boomer Assias and the third highest rated player
on my board.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Right now, Schador is at five. By the way.
Speaker 7 (35:06):
Okay, so say Shador goes in the late first think
it was in the second what an idiot Kuiper is right?
He had Well, guess what Boomer was. Three Bengals had
three picks in the first round. Then I'm sitting there,
first year at ESPN. You know what's going through my head.
I'm one and done. I'm sitting there with Book, I'm
sitting there with Chris Berman, Boomer and Bob Lee. I'm
thinking now I'm not gonna be back for the nineteen
(35:27):
eighty five draft. My third highest rated players there, and
the Bengals passed them three times, Dan, and two of
those three were bus They took him in the second round. Now,
according to that philosophy, if you didn't like him, enough
to take him with your first three picks in there.
Why are you taking him in the second round. He's
gonna be your quarterback. He's gonna be the guy, whether
he was the first second round or he's your guy
moving forward. You didn't even like him enough to take
ahead of Ricky Hunley, Petekotch and Brian Bladoes. Okay, so
(35:50):
again I don't buy into any of that nonsense. Brent
Fahr was like highly rated player, went in the second round, right,
look what happened with him. Aaron Rodgers was supposed to
go number one three full of draft, the twenty four
the six of the eight sliding picks in terms of
my rankings over the last yeah, since nineteen seventy, Dan,
I want all the way back to nineteen seventy. Six
of the eight hit. Six of the eight sliding quarterbacks hit.
(36:12):
So maybe Schador will be one of the six that
does really well.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
We're talking to Mel Kuiper, Draft Expert, forty second NFL Draft,
and you can see ESPN with every pick there that'll
be Thursday through Saturday, it'll be a mel and Field Yates,
Mike Greenberg the First Draft podcast as well with Mel
Kiper help me understand this that I know we get it.
We fall in love with quarterbacks. But if I say
(36:37):
to a team that guy right there that you're going
to take, it's not a quarterback, but he's going to
be a future Hall of Famer. But instead, you'll roll
the dice on cam Ward, and cam can be maybe
he's a Hall of Famer. But if you said Travis Hunter,
Abdul Carter, you know there's a couple of guys in
here that you go. Chances are they could be the
(37:00):
safest picked and be a future Hall of Famer. But
we're gonna roll the dice on cam Ward. He explain
the logic there at the top of the draft. It's
a arm talent, Dan, it's the trades. It's that skill
set that Brian Callahan. I listened to an interview with
Brian Callahan and he.
Speaker 7 (37:13):
Said, I want a quarterback doing everybody in the stadium
knows we're throwing a ball, can throw the ball and
deliver a pass and complete it. I want a guy
that's wired, right. I want a guy that certainly you know.
Speaker 5 (37:21):
Can be not just good.
Speaker 7 (37:24):
Because he said he said just good, just good, it's
not good enough, Dan, It's been told to us.
Speaker 5 (37:29):
Listen to what they're saying. I don't want to go.
That's just good.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
They want Joe Burrow, they want Jaydan Dan, he mentioned
Joe Burrow and Jaydon Daniels in an interview. That's what
he's shooting for. He's not shooting I said this for
the last couple of years, Dan, The singles and double
days for quarterbacks are over. This is and even maybe
even a triple. You want a Grand Slam or a
home runner. You don't want that guy, Dan. So what
they're doing now is they're just keeping taking shots. They're
taking shots. If my guy's not a triple, triple double
(37:54):
or a triple, a home runner, Grand Slam, he's just
a double or single, just good. Then I got to
get better. I got to get better. And the one
phrase that came out of everybody's mouth this last couple
of years is I want a quarterback, my quarterback to
play at consistently high level. Well they aren't looking at
great then, right, Yeah, consistently high level?
Speaker 5 (38:11):
Who does that?
Speaker 7 (38:12):
Dan Patrick does it every day because he's a Hall
of Famer, bottom line knows, does these these quarterbacks do
it every day? Consistently high level? Dan, And that's where
again you look at what we're doing here. If we
got a quarterback and we think he could be good,
but we got to get better. This kid has the
arms talent. Shador Sanders doesn't have the rocket arm. Doesn't
that have the four to six speeding, This is the
six three two thirty. Cam Ward has the rocket arm,
(38:34):
has maneuverability and creativity. The GM was with Patrick Mahomes.
Patrick Mahomes has a lot of creativity and a live arm.
They all see a little bit elements of the quarterback
they were with.
Speaker 5 (38:45):
With a quarterback they're.
Speaker 7 (38:46):
Going to select, and I think they see some elements
there of what Mahomes does to the way cam Ward does.
Speaker 5 (38:50):
Shouldar doesn't do it that way. That's why cam Warden
goes I'm.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Sure, Like, are you sure that cam Ward is going
to be more successful or as successful as Travis Hunter?
Speaker 5 (39:01):
No? No, I don't think anybody can.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Be sure of. So might not take that guy? That's
a generational talent there. This is what I don't understand.
Speaker 7 (39:08):
Well, you can't do you have to have It's the
most important position in all sports, This quarterback in the NFL. Okay,
so you got to keep taking chances. You're always say,
if you don't have that quarterback, Dan, you're spinning your wheels.
They got Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, didn't make the playoffs. Okay,
so you are you gonna have all these pieces? That's
what they said. And I was a big Trent Dilfer supporter.
Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Ironically, you're in Baltimore, right.
Speaker 5 (39:31):
My homes have worn and raised in Baltimore.
Speaker 7 (39:33):
I right, how it all came full circle for me, Dan,
But people say, well, you needed everything around. They'd let
the Trent Dilfer go. They cut him loose the next
year for Elvis Kirback. They wanted to get better. Okay,
they felt like, okay, we need everything around Trent. But
he galvanized that team. He was the true leader. He
was the difference maker on a team. They were one nowhere.
T Trent took over that year. Okay, and he let
(39:54):
them all those wins. But it wasn't good enough even then.
Think about that, Dan, it was a long time ago.
It wasn't even good then. They had a super Bowl
winning quarterback. They kicked them to the curb to try
to get better. This has been going this thought process,
Dan has been going on a long time. The good
isn't good enough at the quarterback position in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
I need you to you gotta pace yourself because you
got to get ready for a Thursday. Here, Mel, I
mean you're you're in first round mode right now.
Speaker 7 (40:20):
I don't know about that. Dan, the voice that always
goes by, You're right by Thursday. I get all fired
up this week and they start yelling and screaming, and
by Thursday, Friday and Saturday you got nothing left. So
I'm with you. But hey, Dan, I could listen to
you say pace it. I've been listening to you say
pace it for about hell of a year's day we've
been together.
Speaker 5 (40:36):
Do I ever, Dan? Listen to Dan Patrick?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
I know, I know, I know. I think it's interesting though,
that your mock draft is saying this, this is your potential.
This is how you grade them, not what the philosophy
is of the teams. Is that correct?
Speaker 5 (40:52):
Well, philosophy?
Speaker 7 (40:52):
You want positions like I say, don't take a running
back in the first But I'm not going to grade
a kid like Ashton Genty or Amari and Hampton from
North Carolina and put him as my six fifth player
because I don't agree with taking your running back in
the first you great, I'm based on their ability, and
that's why all those running backs were rated high. I
have a philosophy that people said was idiotic, Dan, and
now they're all agreeing with it. They all agree with it.
Speaker 10 (41:13):
Now.
Speaker 7 (41:13):
You notice that how that's come full circle too. They
all said I was a nut. Now they say, oh,
you know, you shouldn't really draft a running back in
the first round unless you're one of those great teams
that just is missing the running back, or that team
won the CUSP that's just missing a running back. Tell
me a team Dan in the top ten right now
doesn't think they're going to be a pretty good team
this coming year. Tell me a team that thinks you're
going to be picking first next year. Tell me a
(41:34):
team going into next year's this coming season it thinks, oh,
we're going to be the worst team in the league
next year. Tell me a coach and that building or
a player in that building they were a GM or
an older that believes that. Okay, so to me, look
at Tennessee. They were within a whisker last year of
beating Chicago opening week of being the Jets. The second
week they ended up beating Houston. They had a lot
of games where they're just a mistake here or or
(41:54):
a block that wasn't made, or a drop pass whatever
it may, or penalty or whatever, or an interception to turnover.
So again, this is a fine line, Dan, Washington went
from being a team that was nothing to be because
they had to hit with Jaden Daniels. And that tells
you what we talk about a quarterback. They hit with
Jade and Daniels, and now look where they are now.
Look at the future of the Washington Commanders.
Speaker 5 (42:13):
Right.
Speaker 7 (42:13):
I give Cincinnati, Hey, you get a mulligan with Joe Burrow.
You're not getting two years with Joe Burrow where you
don't make the playoffs. You got an MVP quarterback, you
better get in the playoffs. I said I'll give you
one year. I'm not going to give you two. So
once you get that guy, you better win consistently.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Do you regret not being a GM in the NFL?
Speaker 7 (42:30):
Not at all, Dan, though I had that chance to
get into the league when a great probably the best
friend I ever had in the NFL, where we're all
you think about Ernie you Corsi general manager who was
going to bring me in.
Speaker 5 (42:40):
At age twenty three, before I came to.
Speaker 7 (42:42):
ESPN, Dan, he offered me the position to come work
for him, just do whatever now as an assistant GM
like some you know. Erroneously said it was just to
be his assistant as a young kid coming in. If
I need kaiper to go wherever, I'll send them if
I need him to find out something else. And I
said great. He said, what do you want to do?
He said, just keep going through the eighty three draft.
Speaker 5 (43:00):
Will announce you in July.
Speaker 7 (43:01):
I had the NFL security come down and interview and
go through all the process to be accepted in and
all that.
Speaker 5 (43:07):
So I was gonna that was all gonna happen.
Speaker 7 (43:09):
In July, Ernie had drafted John Elway without his knowledge.
Er John Elway was traded to Denver. There was talking
about the Colts leaving town. Ernie would obviously be leaving
as well. He wasn't going to bring me in as
his guy, knowing the future is so uncertain for him
with this organization. He called me in June, Dan and
he said.
Speaker 5 (43:26):
No, I can't bring you in.
Speaker 7 (43:28):
I said, I said, okay, what do you want me
to do?
Speaker 5 (43:30):
He said, Hey, nobody knows that I was going to
do this.
Speaker 7 (43:32):
It hasn't an announced to anybody. You've got a great
business going. Keep doing what you're doing. Everybody craves that
type of information.
Speaker 5 (43:39):
Keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 7 (43:40):
I did, and guess what, five months later, got a
call from ESPN to come up an interview for the job.
Got that started in nineteen eighty four. So without Ernie
caring about a twenty three year old kid, and he
would have just brought me in, I'd have been with
the Colts, hit a left. I'd have been gone at
some point. ESPN would have had another draft analyst, and
I don't know what that go I'd be doing right now, Dan, But.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
That leads me to what happen. Happen with Brent Musburger.
I campaigned for him. I reached out to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame, the Pete Roseld Award. I'd like
to do the same with you. I think you should
be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 7 (44:10):
I appreciate that, Dan, but I don't. I don't, I really,
I never. I just believe there's so many people that
just you get you're fortunate, you get a little lucky,
on your side.
Speaker 5 (44:19):
You're around great people. I was, Dan, work with you.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
All those you you changed, You changed an industry. You
what you have meant to the NFL can it's it's
a different version of John Facenda, Like he was the
voice and you were. You were the draft guy. Like,
look at what it's a cottage industry that you created
(44:42):
that is contributions to the game. I know you're modest,
I don't care. I'm going forward with it. You you
deserve to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 8 (44:51):
You do, Dan.
Speaker 7 (44:52):
Your great friend Andy Poland has been saying the same thing.
I tell Andy the same thing. You know, Andy, and
he said he's gonna. I said, you know to me,
you get into this and you see so many people
that were responsible with ESPN for what's happened.
Speaker 5 (45:04):
So you say I did this.
Speaker 7 (45:05):
ESPN really did it, Dan, because they televised this thing
when the NFL didn't want it to be televised.
Speaker 5 (45:10):
Think about that.
Speaker 7 (45:11):
Think about all the great producers that were from Bill
Fitz who offered me that position in eighty four, all
the way up John Wildhack. You think about what he did.
Freddy Gadelli. Freddie Goadelli was able to coach me along
and teach me so many things about this business. Jay Rothman,
Brian Ryder now, Robert Dampsky, all the great producers.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
Way you're giving your Hall of Fame speech, Wayne.
Speaker 5 (45:30):
Markman is believing in me all these years. Seth has
been a great friend.
Speaker 7 (45:34):
So all the ESPN guys, Dan, they were responsible, and
all the people that cut those highlight packs, that all
that worked behind, they were responsible for the drastics. That's
keep in mind. Dan, ESPN televised draft before I got here. Okay,
so the draft was on a ESPN because before I
became a part of the telecast changed you changed.
Speaker 5 (45:51):
Well, I appreciate that. But for John for sending what
you just said.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
The voice, that voice.
Speaker 7 (45:55):
Dan pulled people into the NFL.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
You're the hair, he's the voicemail.
Speaker 7 (46:04):
My great friend, You'll make great friends. George Young, right,
late great George Young, Calvert Hall's owns. George Young, famous
famous graduate of Calvert Hall history.
Speaker 5 (46:11):
Great friend of mine.
Speaker 7 (46:12):
Used to write me handwritten notes after he got the book,
when suggestions and just thoughts. He'd called me during the
draft even and give me, get me to tell him
his opinion of what went on George Young always said
one couple of things. He said, first of all, when
you draft a player is just as important as who
you select. So value is important. He said to me
yours when I basically when I started ESPN, you got
(46:34):
to you gotta get a voice, coach Mail, you got
to get that ball to you gotta get that Baltimore
accent out of that. You gotta lose that Baltimore accent.
George Always, I said, Charles, I'm not.
Speaker 5 (46:42):
Going I gotta change it.
Speaker 7 (46:43):
Whatever I am, I am, and it's not. It doesn't
resonate and his voice isn't getting done. I can't change
my voice. George, you got to get that Baltimore accent
and lose it. You're never gonna have any chance. So
it was funny all the conversations I look back to
with George and like Elady of course, and my great
friend Jack Faulkner with the Ams was phenomenal back in
the day. Today, I mean, all the way, all the
(47:03):
way through my career between Jack Ernie George.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
Save it for your Hall of Fame speech, Save.
Speaker 5 (47:09):
It, I would say, give that up. You know, I
got a lot of people in the lake that hate me.
Speaker 7 (47:15):
You know, I got a lot of a lot of
people know they have hated me for a long time.
I do not think anything n f L related through
the Hall of Fame whatever, that will never work hand
in hand.
Speaker 6 (47:27):
Then no.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
Uh, I'd say pace yourself, but you're not capable, and uh,
good to talk to you. As always, We'll see you.
Thank you, Take everybody
You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox
Sports Radio. It's great to be back.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We will be doing our show in Green Bay starting
on Wednesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and first come, first serve
as far as a studio audience. Once we get to capacity,
then we will have to close the doors. We'll do
a meet and greet on Wednesday night at the Bar
on Home Grown Way. That'll be from four to six
and there's no admission fee there. Basketball yesterday over the weekend,
(00:31):
the Pacers are a sneaky good team. I know they're
facing a banged up Bucks team without Dame Lillard, but
they win nuggets and overtime over the Clippers. The Knicks,
I thought they were going to lose to the Pistons,
and then there was a twenty one to notzhering run
and the Knicks survive Game one, the Timberwolves over the Lakers,
and then yesterday the Thunder beat the grizz by fifty
(00:55):
one points. That's the largest Game one victory margin of
victory in NBA history. Fifty one points, the largest in
a playoff game since twenty fifteen. And you're watching the
game and I felt bad for Mike Breen, he's the
play by play voice, and I'm going, Mike, you're gonna
have to do some Phil You're gonna have to tell
(01:17):
some stories with Richard Jefferson here and Doris Burke because
this game is going to get out of hand early.
The Lakers somehow were surprised at the physicality of the Timberwolves.
I never understood that. I don't know if I'd ever
admit that where I go. Yeah, dang man, they play physical.
(01:38):
Luca played well, but the rest of the team didn't
hold up there under the bargain, and Minnesota came after
them and didn't let up and picked up the victory there.
But you know, you can't lose games at home, can't,
not first round, can't. And you can't be surprised at
the physicality of a team there, but they were. But
(02:01):
Luca did have a respectable game, but you know, Minnesota
had a balance to attack here. Oh, Claoma City, they're
a cute story. They're no longer a cute story. They're
a real story. And I think sometimes we get caught
up and he go, oh that team out there, and
Oklaoma City, Oh look at them. How many wins do
they have? They went sixty eight and fourteen. They dominated.
(02:23):
You got some other players on that team. I know
they're going to have the MVP in Shay Jalen Williams
is a rising star. Chaed Holmgren maybe a future Defensive
Player of the Year winner. They got a really good bench.
The Thunder no longer a cute story. They're a problem.
They are They're a real problem. And sometimes you'll see
teams I mentioned this with Houston. Houston lost to Golden State.
(02:45):
There are certain teams that go into the playoffs and
it's almost like it's a fact finding mission. It's like
a school trip. You're like, let's go see what that's like. Hey,
let's go into the playoffs and see what that's like,
and then we can kind of collect our thoughts and
then get ready to go into next season. Now, I'm
not going to say that they're not going to beat
(03:06):
Golden State. I will be surprised if they beat Golden State,
only because of Golden State has been there. I mean,
if you look at just Steph Curry, Steph has more
playoff games than the entire roster. Then you throw in
Draymond Green, then you throw in Jimmy Butler, then you
throw in some of these bench guys, then you throw
in Steve Kerr. It's an incredible advantage for them. And
(03:27):
you saw with Steph and Playoff Jimmy, they're probably the
best tandem in the NBA. And I thought, you know,
Luca and Lebron the way they were playing at the
end of the regular season, and I would probably still
side with them. But probably the general consensus is Steph
and Playoff Jimmy the best tandem. But the Cabs rolled,
(03:49):
they beat the Heat, but the Warriors beating the Rockets.
I'm not surprised at that at all. It's just different basketball,
and there's certain teams. Oklahoma City, they were on a
fact finding mission last year, then all of a sudden,
you go, Okay, what did we learn? Go down through
history a lot of times you have to lose to
learn how to win. What does it take? What do
(04:10):
we do, what didn't we do? What do they do
better than us? And I think that's what you're seeing
with Okacie Cleveland, big question mark there. They were great,
best team in the East during the regular season. The
general consensus is what the Boston Celtics, and rightfully so,
that team is so Deep. It feels like everybody can
shoot a three. You could probably get the trainer out
(04:33):
there and he might be able to be respectable from
three point range. Everybody and then an oh, by the way,
Derek White, you know Olympian. See that's the dangerous part
of this. When Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum aren't great
but they're great, that's when you win championships.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Yes, Marvin, have we ever disrespected a team like the
Boston Celtics, And I don't mean that like purposefully, but
we didn't talk about them at all all season long
and they were the defending champs with the best starting
five in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
But it might be a compliment that we've just taken
them for granted, that there's certain players and certain teams
that they get elevated and then we go, Okay, we
told that story. Now let's move on, because that's really
we're in the storytelling business. What's the story you're telling
about the Celtics this year? Man? Can if the good
(05:28):
Rod Deep Ross, how about Peyton Pritchard? You know, I mean,
you just we run out of ways to describe somebody,
and a lot of these teams you don't look at
where they are in the playoff seedings. The same thing
with San Antonio. People would get caught up in oh man,
are you going to be the number one seed and
(05:49):
have home court advantage. Spurs didn't care. They were like,
we use the regular season to get ready for the postseason.
Certain teams are like, we use the regular season to
make the postseason. Boston uses the regular season, just like
the Patriots. They used the first three or four games
of the regular season for their training camp, like this
(06:10):
is our preseason, and then they use the regular season
to get ready for the postseason. And that's a compliment
to them. All Right, Seaton's not here today, So I'm guessing, Todd,
are you doing the poll question? I do have the
odds to win the NBA Championship? OKC is your favorite,
Then it's the Celtics, and then a distant third the Cabs.
(06:33):
Really distant fourth is the Warriors, and then even further
down the list is the Lakers. It does feel like
it's a two race, two team race. But the Cavaliers.
Cavaliers are a lot of fun. And I was watching
last night. You might go, who's this guy who's lighting
up the Miami Heat. Ti Jerome. Well, Ty Jerome played
(06:55):
for Virginia and I remember when he was playing and
mcleven and I went back and forth because he goes,
this Virginia team isn't good. I said, man, this they
can shoot, they can shoot. And Ti Jerome, who's that?
I said, I don't know who he is, but I
know he can shoot. All of a sudden, Ti Jerome
(07:15):
pops up and you go, I'll be damned. It took
a while, but he had a couple of games this
year that got on the radar and I went that dude,
and they went at Tyler Hero last night. It was
not nice. It was not nice. That's where you needed
parental guidance because I'm going, damn. Everybody wanted Tyler Hero
(07:37):
guardian last night. But Ti Jerome went at him. And
you know they did a great job. Great job, Yes, poet, I.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Had to look up Ti Jerome. I couldn't lie to you.
He's been on four teams in six years. He's played
six seasons and only started ten games.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, wow, but he can shoot. He can. He got
some buckets. He had twenty eight points and win. That's
the most by any Cavalier in their first NBA playoff
game since Kyrie had thirty against the Celtics back in
twenty fifteen. Stat of the day, stat of the day,
that past stat of the day, stat of the.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Day, here comes that what stat of the.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Day, Thank you, Will Ferrell. Stat of the day, brought
to you by Panini America. And you try not to
get caught up in one loss, you know, I like that.
Ja Moran says, you know, we won't play this way
next time around against Okay, see wow, stop the presses.
You won't play that badly. You're gonna play a little better.
It's almost one of those where he could say if
(08:40):
they lose by fifteen, see I told you we weren't
gonna play that bad. We're improving here. But that was
there was no pulse. Yeah, the body that there was
no pulse. There was a corpse. But sometimes you'll have
these big blowouts and then you know these teams flipped
the switch on you, and maybe have that with Memphis.
(09:02):
I don't see it, just because I think Okac knows,
let's be great. We were great. Continue to be great.
Don't take anybody for granted, and don't be surprised. The
Lakers were surprised. That's what surprises me. Wait a minute, guys,
come on, you know, and it's not like Memphis is
(09:25):
Minnesota is Memphis Minnesota. They can play for a title,
and that's where you just you can't be goofing around here.
Take something for granted.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Yes, Mark Lakers, Hey, this is the team that beat
the Denver Nuggets last year in the playoffs. They took
jokij out. So why are we surprised that nas Reed
and Julius Randall are being physical with them? Did he
not see the Scott report?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
But then JJ Riddick says hey, and Lebron said that, hey,
we were kind of surprised at their physicality. There should
be no surprises right now. You play together long enough,
you got you know, Luca playing well. And I really
think that they have a chance to play, you know,
for in the Western Conference finals. I mean, I really do.
But it comes down to defense. But I didn't think
(10:12):
physicality was going to be the difference. But it was
all right, Uh poll questions don.
Speaker 6 (10:19):
Uh, we're a roll with this one from Paulie. I
think the Thunder will win the NBA title? Sure, too early, okay, yeah, sir?
Or too early okay?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I don't think they're better than the Celtics. I think
I think they're a great team. This is one of
those where they don't get a lot of publicity, just
like the Cavs didn't get a lot. You know, we
the media steers you where they want to steer you.
They guide you. So when you turn on ESPN or Fox,
(10:57):
they're going to guide you to where they're going to
guide you any place else maybe the Nicks, maybe they're
gonna guide you to well, Memphis because Jaw's in trouble.
Where else are they guiding you? Therefore, you really don't
have a unless you watch these games. You don't have
(11:19):
a good opinion, a strong opinion on a team because
you're like, oh, okay, see I see the highlights. Yeah,
all right, SGA and he's really good. But that's all
you know. And then you'll see some of these other
teams and you'll go, oh, wow, I was watching the Pistons, man,
they're pretty good. It's because the media will hold your
hand and take you where they want to because that's
(11:41):
where the stories are. And we do a disservice to
some of these other teams that play really well. And
that's why I'm Glad Sga is getting recognized because he
has been great and players will say this, and they've
said this, Jokers the best player in the game. But
they're happy that Sga is going to be the MV pick,
(12:03):
like he he deserves to win the MV pick because
of what the team did during the regular season. So
that'll give you a sense of the players know. But
is anybody talking about the Indiana Piecers. The WNBA team
in Indiana gets more, you know, headlines, credit attention than
the Pacers do. The Pacers are a really good team,
(12:25):
but once again, the media does not guide you there.
The only member of the media who does is Pat
McAfee because he's in Indianapolis. But there will be some
interesting stories that come out. And if you haven't watched Detroit,
yes they did blow the lead the Knicks twenty one
to nothing run. But Kate Cunningham is real. He is
(12:49):
a real star. Yeah, Paully, I.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Didn't want to bring this up so early, but I
was watching thunder Grizzlies. I'm just looking at that. I
don't know all the Grizzlies players and like, oh, Scotty
Pippen June on the team, and I think he got
the start for the Grizzlies. He spells his first name
s c O T t y. His father, Scotty Pippen
Senior spells it s c O T T I E
m hm. That blew my mind. I always thought if
(13:13):
you named your son after you, that exact same spelling of.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
The name back to you. Okay, thank you, Paulin break
it down. Yeah, it's worth break breaking into programming. Wo no, young,
you can do it.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
I guess who stell of the day? Style of the day,
start of the day, stell of the day. This is
the stele of the.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Day, Paulie, would you stay on that story? Please? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I E?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Or why with Scottie Pippen Junior the third Now it's
in your head though, is he junior? No, it's gone?
Speaker 5 (13:53):
Is he?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Is he junior?
Speaker 7 (13:55):
He is Scottie Pippen junior.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
But it's s c O T T Y again.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Okay, his father I E I E E Yes.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
I gotta tell you.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
I found that kind of interesting as well.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Now that poly mention, that's not a good sign.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
No it's not.
Speaker 7 (14:09):
No.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Oh, Fritzy, Fritzy sent this to me. He was a Hey,
Luca's number is seventy seven. I go okay, And do
you realize seventy seven days after they traded Luca, the
Mavericks were eliminated from the playoffs.
Speaker 7 (14:23):
Fascinating.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, I go okay. My thing numerology, I know it is,
I know, love it, I know. But did you notice
that no one responded to you as well?
Speaker 5 (14:34):
I totally annoyed.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
I didn't get a k or a thumbs up or
a smiley thing.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
I was way too busy for some rey. I don't
know what I was doing, but I'm sure I was
way too busy to then, you know, very nice respond
to your seventy seven seventy seven.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 9 (15:00):
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Speaker 5 (15:18):
In the world.
Speaker 9 (15:18):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
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Speaker 2 (15:31):
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And if you miss any of the live show, just
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Speaker 2 (15:57):
The Chimberwolves beat the Lakers Minnesota made a franchise playoff
record twenty one to three pointers. So when JJ Reddick
and Lebron say, hey, you know, we were surprised at
the physicality of that, well, okay, but what about the
three pointers that you gave up twenty one Let's talktor
Chris Haynes senior NBA insider and host of the Haynes
(16:18):
Briefs show on YouTube. He is covering the Bucks and Pacers,
and then he's going to go to the Rockets and
the Warriors. Worst first round lost so far turned in
by who.
Speaker 10 (16:32):
Hmm, Well, I mean I think you definitely got I
mean the worst. I think you say the worst by
a point differential. You can say to Memphis Grizzlies. You
know the way they lost to Oklahoma City. But I
think most people believe that Oklahoma City is going to
get out of the first round relatively unscathed. But the
team you just talked about right now, the Lakers and
(16:53):
the Minnesota Timbwolves, even though that's not I understand the
Lakers have the higher seed, but I think that's a
prey even matchup. And I think when you look at
the athleticism, you look at the dog of Anthony Edwards,
and you just look how they went into LA and
took care of business in the threes. Those threes were
opened up by driving penetration overhelping Anthony Edwards would be
(17:15):
able to get to whatever he wanted to get to
on the court, and it was setting up guys and
guys found the rhythm and once they found it, they
didn't let go of that rhythm.
Speaker 8 (17:23):
So the Lakers have some issues for sure.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
The Memphis loss like it was laughable, Like after a while,
you're just going, I mean, does Memphis have any pride here?
And I know we see teams turn it around, get
blown out, and then they come back and they'll make
it competitive, maybe win that game. But Oka C seems
to have learned something from last year like that. It
(17:47):
feels like they understand, you know, how to be a
playoff team. I don't know if you have them going
to the NBA Finals.
Speaker 10 (17:58):
Put me on the spot, DP, I haven't made a selection. Nobody,
nobody has ever asked me yet for my prediction. I
got them in the.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Clint Waits you know have started, Chris, you know how
this works. You can't wait till you know.
Speaker 10 (18:19):
Well, usually, DP, Usually that's how it works. Like if
you don't get asked, because now, because now you get
to see these games, go on to see a trend
and then somebody they might ask you in the semi
finals round, then I'll have a better gaze.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
Then I'll look much more smart, smarter, and brighter than.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
You give me your two favorites to win.
Speaker 10 (18:38):
The favorite two favorites, I would say, okay, see come
out the West and Boston to come out the East.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Okay, then give me your other two. Following them.
Speaker 10 (18:51):
The other two I would have to go with. God's tough,
you know. I want to say Denver. I want to,
but there's been so much the team is different, changing
of a coach. I think that series with the Clippers
is going to go seven games. I don't know who's
coming out. I want to say Denver.
Speaker 8 (19:11):
DP.
Speaker 10 (19:11):
Don't hold me to that. Please, don't hold me to that.
I want to say Denver. But in the East, I
understand Cleveland had the best record over there for the
most part. Oh boy, there are about a few other
teams that I can see making noise in the East.
I think if New York gets on the run, they
(19:32):
can do some things. I think if Damian Lillard gets back,
I think the Bucks and Giannis can do some things.
It's tougher in the East for me, DP, I will say,
I will say between New York.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
And Milwaukee, a team not in the playoffs, the Atlanta Hawks,
the Trey Young situation. Yeah, you look at his numbers
and you go God those are great numbers, but I
don't know what kind of I mean. I can watch
him play, but it just seems like he's going to
put up really good numbers for a team that nobody
(20:06):
really cares about. And I wonder does he need to
be on another team to show how good he can
really be, how clutch he can be playing in big moments.
And I don't know, like Dame Lillard, and maybe it's
not a fair comparison, but we look at Dame and go, God,
he's playing great and meaningless games for the most part,
(20:27):
and then all of a sudden he gets traded and
it's at the latter part of his career. I don't
know if the Hawks are at that point where they yo.
You know, maybe we're better off without Trey Young. What
do you think?
Speaker 8 (20:39):
So?
Speaker 10 (20:39):
I had Trey on my show, The Hainsbury Show on YouTube.
Everybody check it out. I had him on my show
last week and I asked him about that DP, just
about where he's at with the organization, with his career,
and he said he's.
Speaker 8 (20:53):
In a good spot.
Speaker 10 (20:54):
He said he knew that there was going to be
speculation once the Hawks went to a younger core had
the number one pick. He knew there was gonna be
speculation about his future, but he said he bought in.
He took the you know, Zach number one pick. He
brought him to his hometown in Oklahoma to show him around,
to spend some time with him right after Zach was drafted,
just to get him engaged.
Speaker 8 (21:15):
And so he's somebody.
Speaker 10 (21:17):
Who again just just told to me about a week
and a week and a half ago that he's down
with the process. He wants to see this Atlanta Hawks
squad turn the corner, and he wants to be a
pivotal partner. And then dp he changed his game this
past season like he was more I think we know
that trade is a great facilitator, but he modified his
(21:38):
game like it wasn't just shoot first trade. You know,
this was a guy who was getting guys involved. And
so that that speaks to his maturity, and that speaks
to you know, him trying to empower his teammates. But
with that being said, there definitely are teams out there
who are monitoring his situation and trying to see if
there's going to become a point this all season where
(21:58):
that he can be had and where he can be
moved because he's definitely a guy who want. Like Trey
is one of the most competitive guys in this league.
When he went to that conference finals a few years ago,
played against the you know, he wanted, he wanted to
continue on. He wanted the organization to do things, to
make moves to keep the team on the trajectory. Now
(22:18):
they took it a little backstep of the you know
in recent years. He wants to get back to that point.
But as of now, DP, I can say I haven't
heard anything on Trey side that will lead me to
believe that he wants out right now.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Will Yannis finish his career in Milwaukee.
Speaker 10 (22:35):
I don't think so. I don't think so. I just
you know, this is going to be a pivotal playoff.
This the twenty twenty five playoffs for the Milwaukee Bucks.
It's going to be pivotal, you know, will if they
don't get to the finals, win the finals, or even
make a deep run, you can probably see some wholesale
(22:57):
changes going on in Milwaukee from you know, you can
go from coaching staff, from front office to the players,
like it can be a pretty big significant wholesale if
Milaukee Bucks don't make a significant run this postseason.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Could you see them trading Joannis?
Speaker 10 (23:14):
I could see them going in a different direction, And yeah,
I can see that possibility if things go sour this postseason,
for sure.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
He's Chris Haynes, senior NBA insider, host of the Haynes
Briefs show on YouTube. He's covering Bucks Pacers for Game
two and then heading to the Rockets and the Warriors.
You know, the Warriors winning the game against Houston and
then we see that playoff experience that they have and
Golden State, to me, is a fascinating situation because can
(23:47):
you do this? Can you win four games? Can that group?
You know, because that's what it takes every one of
these series, you can say, are you able to win four?
And I think they I think they could go to
the Western Conference Finals. And I don't know if anybody
would be surprised, but would you be more surprised if
(24:07):
the Warriors went to the Western Conference Finals or the
Lakers did.
Speaker 10 (24:12):
I would be more surprised as the Lakers went to
the Western Conference Finals because the Golden State Wars, they
still have their nucleus in place, and they've upgraded in
Jimmy Butler, somebody who fits seamlessly in what they're trying
to do on the offensive end and defensive end.
Speaker 8 (24:25):
The Lakers, we knew there was going to be some
growing pains.
Speaker 10 (24:29):
You're talking about two Hall of Fame basketball players, but
they have very similar ways of playing the game and
they both require the ball and it's worked better than
what I thought when I'm talking about Lebron James and
Luca doctors. But we're talking about going to State, man,
they're just plugging in.
Speaker 8 (24:46):
You know. They Jimmy Butler with.
Speaker 10 (24:47):
Somebody who could fit, and he saw what he did,
clutch baskets after clutch baskets, making plays, and he's somebody
that doesn't have to take a lot of shots to
be efficient. And so I think if you know, talking
about the Lakers and Warriors, I think the Warriors will
have an easier path to get to the get to
the finals than the Lakers.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Best in basketball right now is who.
Speaker 10 (25:11):
Are we talking about in the playoffs or overall?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Let's do playoffs?
Speaker 8 (25:18):
DP.
Speaker 10 (25:19):
You know what, DP, You're really good at what you
do because you know this is this is why, this
is why you get a lot out of Charles Barkley.
You know, you know how to answer. You know how
to ask the right questions. You never know what you're
going to ask and it requires an answer.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
So let me say, now you were stalling with the compliment.
I see right through you, Chris.
Speaker 10 (25:40):
Okay, this works here, that's why you do.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Do you think there's a better tandem not in the
playoffs than in the playoffs? No?
Speaker 10 (25:50):
I can't say that, Okay, and I would get ridiculed
for even saying there's a better tantent that's not in
the playoffs, because if they were, they would be at
the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
You're stalling once again by saying regular season play homes.
Speaker 10 (26:03):
Okay, let's let's allow me to go. I don't want
to disrespect the champions.
Speaker 8 (26:10):
Allow me to go. Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown? Is that safe?
Is that safe? After DP?
Speaker 7 (26:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
But I don't want safe. Do you really feel that
right now the best tandem in basketball is Tatum and
Brown over Jimmy Steph, Luca Lebron.
Speaker 8 (26:32):
The best talent in basketball pound for pal is No,
we're not.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
We're just best tandem.
Speaker 5 (26:38):
Will you stop?
Speaker 2 (26:40):
You're better than this.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
Lebron?
Speaker 8 (26:47):
Luca?
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Okay, see that's not that hard.
Speaker 8 (26:50):
It actually was.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Which team did the best job of tanking for Cooper Flag.
Speaker 8 (26:59):
You know what it was.
Speaker 10 (27:00):
There was a lot of teams that had a really
good job. You know, I'm going to go with the
Utah Jazz. They let it be known pretty early on.
They put out a They put out a release and
just basically said, these seven guys aren't playing for the
rest of the season.
Speaker 5 (27:18):
You know, it was these minor injuries.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
The NBA Awards season, you have to play at least
sixty five games. I was wondering Jared Jackson Junior. I
thought was gonna win the Defensive Player of the Year.
He's not one of the finalists here.
Speaker 8 (27:39):
How many games did he plays?
Speaker 2 (27:42):
He played seventy four, but he's not one. So it
wasn't even one of those where because it's that super
Max deal. If he wins Defensive Player of the Year again,
and I thought with Victor wen Been Yama out, then
he was the favorite. He's not even one of I
got Dyce and Daniels, Draymond.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Dra Well d P.
Speaker 10 (28:09):
Draymond's had a phenomenal season. But you know, Dyson Daniels
leads the league in steals. Evan Mobley I would have
you know, I felt like all along Evan Mobley might
have been the front runner to win that award award
what he's done with Yeah, I do think I think
(28:30):
so as well. I think he's the favorite. But Jared Jackson,
you know, it was a tough this was a tough
one this year. And and DP, I'm telling you I
don't have a vote this season, which I'm glad because
DP around this time, you know, players that have those
claus in their contract, they start to call me around
the last two weeks of the season, Hey, you know
(28:53):
my situation, who are you voting for it?
Speaker 8 (28:55):
And it just puts me in a tough spot.
Speaker 10 (28:57):
I'm not gonna name names, but I've had multiple players
call me constantly over the path last you know, the
lab but the last two weeks of the season, just
to get a gauge, and I'm like, damn, man, that's
that's tough about to.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Be anybody try to buy your vote, like saying, hey,
Chris uh Man, I got these new Jordans and what
changes do you wear? Or hey, you know once you
go out go out to dinner, you know, maybe made
me go to Cabo. I'll make sure you take care
of you.
Speaker 10 (29:27):
They haven't said that they haven't tried to buy it.
But what they did do they do? They do try
to propose an appearance.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
You know what.
Speaker 10 (29:35):
Hey, you know they the way they say it, like, hey,
you know what, you have a nice show. I could
think about coming home if.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Great to talk to you DP any time.
Speaker 8 (29:52):
Man, you take care of brother.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Best tandem in the NBA is who Luca?
Speaker 10 (30:02):
All right?
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I just want to make sure, thank you, Chris.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan
Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
W APP taking part in his forty second NFL Draft,
Mel Kuiper Draft Expert. He'll be at the ESPN desk
for every pick of the NFL Draft starting Thursday. But
before the draft, listen to the final episodes of the
First Draft Podcast with Melfield Yates in Mike Greenberg available
wherever you get your podcast, Mel joining us on the program.
(30:35):
Why do so many opinions seem to shift based on
stuff that's not from actual games that these players play.
Speaker 7 (30:44):
It's college the pro Dan, That's what makes it so
so difficult. You're seeing guys play in college against players
who will not be in the National Football League, so
you're not getting apples to apples. And then some games
you want to watch an offensive tackle, but the defensive
ends going on the right side or side opposite where
the player you want the one on one to be,
so you get little snippets, okay, snapshots here and there
(31:06):
of a player against another great player. That's why senior
bowl practices are so important because you're getting good on good.
You don't get that in college on a regular basis,
so a lot of times the stats can.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Be skewed one way.
Speaker 7 (31:17):
You can have great numbers against I call am aog
s DAN another occupation. Guys, that's what they are. You know,
they're aogs. That's what you go up against in college.
I can win that phrase years ago. That's what it
is because that's college football. That's the same thing when
you talk about high school. It's tough to go from
one level to the next and be accurate with your evaluation.
So when you end today, it's over evaluation too, because
(31:40):
you're talking about so much time between the end of
the season until late April that you do kind of
overthink it and you do factor in things that maybe
shouldn't be as heavily weighed because it's so much time
and it is level to a different level, and you
have to look at everything possible to try to make
a good evaluation. Certainly, Dan, a lot of scouts believe,
and funeral managers later in the draft, take the talented kids.
(32:03):
Bill Polli and Hall of Fame were always told him, no,
take the talented guys later in the draft. The guys
are call him under achievers, Dan, but they have a
big time skill set and for one reason or another,
they got dinged in the process a bit. Take those
kind of guys in the fifth, sixth, seventh round or
bring him in his undrafted free agents.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
How do you grade Travis Hunter considering there's two positions.
Speaker 7 (32:24):
He's it's a hard decision on wide receiver and corner
when you have other players that are fully invested in
that one spot. So you say, Okay, Travis didn't play
just wide receiver, he didn't play just corner. He was
out there every play, every snap. That to me prevents
him from being as good at one or the other
(32:44):
that he could be.
Speaker 5 (32:45):
So even with that said, Dan.
Speaker 7 (32:47):
He's my number one wide receiver and he's my number
one corner, and it's amazing that he would just focus
on one position, how great he could be. So to me,
Travis is as unique as any player in the history
of the draft because he is going to play both ways.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Right away, dion said it perfectly.
Speaker 7 (33:02):
You're not going to have a drive at the end
of the first half, or a drive in the fourth quarter,
or two drives in the fourth quarter, settling that game
that outcome and have Travis Hunter standing on the sidelines
when our cornerbacks are getting beaten in the quarterbacks, driving
his team right down the field against my defense. You
can't have that. So Dionna is perfectly correct. It's a
thousand percent correct on that this kid's got to play
both ways.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Do you love or love love Shador Sanders?
Speaker 7 (33:26):
Like really love Shador Sanders. I tried to be loyal
to what like I said August and what I thought
throughout their careers. And I understand if you want Dan
somebody who looks the part. I call them ltpeers. That's
what they are. They're ltpers. There's a couple other guys
that that's positioned that are more physically gifted. Okay, when
I talk about arm strength, when I talk about just
imposing size, the rocket arm, the four six speed. There
(33:50):
are other quarterbacks that have that, Dan, if you want that,
take those guys. If you want a kid who can
just surgically take a team down the field, pick you apart,
see things, recognize things, diagnose, make decisions that are sound. Also,
get the ball to accurate points and precise points to
a receiver, and hang in tough in that pocket, take
(34:12):
hits and keep getting up. Don't point fingers, don't assign blame.
Win football games. He didn't have a running game for
two years of Colorado. Dan, his leading rusher, upset it
for the last month, his leading rusher the last two years.
Speaker 5 (34:23):
The two top running.
Speaker 7 (34:24):
Backs in this draft, genty and Hampton, would have had
more yards in a game.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
And a half then they had the whole year.
Speaker 7 (34:28):
Think about that and an offensive line, Dan, you saw
that offensive line that was a bad group in twenty
twenty three, a little bit better in twenty four. But
bottom line is he had no chance, and a lot
of those snaps he had no shot.
Speaker 5 (34:39):
So I'd give him a lot of credit, Dan, But.
Speaker 7 (34:41):
If he's not the guy that you want physically, and
you can't reconcile taking a guy that high, I get it.
But does that not mean that, hey, in the mid
late first round, he can't be a heck of a pick.
And all this notion too, Dan, Well, if you love them,
or you'll like them, whatever, if you'll just like them,
you can't take them. Well, I give you an example.
In nineteen eighty four, Dan, my first year at ESPN,
(35:02):
I had Boomer Assias and the third highest rated player
on my board.
Speaker 5 (35:04):
Right now, Schador is at five. By the way.
Speaker 7 (35:06):
Okay, so say Shador goes in the late first think
it was in the second what an idiot Kuiper is right?
He had Well, guess what Boomer was. Three Bengals had
three picks in the first round. Then I'm sitting there,
first year at ESPN. You know what's going through my head.
I'm one and done. I'm sitting there with Book, I'm
sitting there with Chris Berman, Boomer and Bob Lee. I'm
thinking now I'm not gonna be back for the nineteen
(35:27):
eighty five draft. My third highest rated players there, and
the Bengals passed them three times, Dan, and two of
those three were bus They took him in the second round. Now,
according to that philosophy, if you didn't like him, enough
to take him with your first three picks in there.
Why are you taking him in the second round. He's
gonna be your quarterback. He's gonna be the guy, whether
he was the first second round or he's your guy
moving forward. You didn't even like him enough to take
ahead of Ricky Hunley, Petekotch and Brian Bladoes. Okay, so
(35:50):
again I don't buy into any of that nonsense. Brent
Fahr was like highly rated player, went in the second round, right,
look what happened with him. Aaron Rodgers was supposed to
go number one three full of draft, the twenty four
the six of the eight sliding picks in terms of
my rankings over the last yeah, since nineteen seventy, Dan,
I want all the way back to nineteen seventy. Six
of the eight hit. Six of the eight sliding quarterbacks hit.
(36:12):
So maybe Schador will be one of the six that
does really well.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
We're talking to Mel Kuiper, Draft Expert, forty second NFL Draft,
and you can see ESPN with every pick there that'll
be Thursday through Saturday, it'll be a mel and Field Yates,
Mike Greenberg the First Draft podcast as well with Mel
Kiper help me understand this that I know we get it.
We fall in love with quarterbacks. But if I say
(36:37):
to a team that guy right there that you're going
to take, it's not a quarterback, but he's going to
be a future Hall of Famer. But instead, you'll roll
the dice on cam Ward, and cam can be maybe
he's a Hall of Famer. But if you said Travis Hunter,
Abdul Carter, you know there's a couple of guys in
here that you go. Chances are they could be the
(37:00):
safest picked and be a future Hall of Famer. But
we're gonna roll the dice on cam Ward. He explain
the logic there at the top of the draft. It's
a arm talent, Dan, it's the trades. It's that skill
set that Brian Callahan. I listened to an interview with
Brian Callahan and he.
Speaker 7 (37:13):
Said, I want a quarterback doing everybody in the stadium
knows we're throwing a ball, can throw the ball and
deliver a pass and complete it. I want a guy
that's wired, right. I want a guy that certainly you know.
Speaker 5 (37:21):
Can be not just good.
Speaker 7 (37:24):
Because he said he said just good, just good, it's
not good enough, Dan, It's been told to us.
Speaker 5 (37:29):
Listen to what they're saying. I don't want to go.
That's just good.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
They want Joe Burrow, they want Jaydan Dan, he mentioned
Joe Burrow and Jaydon Daniels in an interview. That's what
he's shooting for. He's not shooting I said this for
the last couple of years, Dan, The singles and double
days for quarterbacks are over. This is and even maybe
even a triple. You want a Grand Slam or a
home runner. You don't want that guy, Dan. So what
they're doing now is they're just keeping taking shots. They're
taking shots. If my guy's not a triple, triple double
(37:54):
or a triple, a home runner, Grand Slam, he's just
a double or single, just good. Then I got to
get better. I got to get better. And the one
phrase that came out of everybody's mouth this last couple
of years is I want a quarterback, my quarterback to
play at consistently high level. Well they aren't looking at
great then, right, Yeah, consistently high level?
Speaker 5 (38:11):
Who does that?
Speaker 7 (38:12):
Dan Patrick does it every day because he's a Hall
of Famer, bottom line knows, does these these quarterbacks do
it every day? Consistently high level? Dan, And that's where
again you look at what we're doing here. If we
got a quarterback and we think he could be good,
but we got to get better. This kid has the
arms talent. Shador Sanders doesn't have the rocket arm. Doesn't
that have the four to six speeding, This is the
six three two thirty. Cam Ward has the rocket arm,
(38:34):
has maneuverability and creativity. The GM was with Patrick Mahomes.
Patrick Mahomes has a lot of creativity and a live arm.
They all see a little bit elements of the quarterback
they were with.
Speaker 5 (38:45):
With a quarterback they're.
Speaker 7 (38:46):
Going to select, and I think they see some elements
there of what Mahomes does to the way cam Ward does.
Speaker 5 (38:50):
Shouldar doesn't do it that way. That's why cam Warden
goes I'm.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Sure, Like, are you sure that cam Ward is going
to be more successful or as successful as Travis Hunter?
Speaker 5 (39:01):
No? No, I don't think anybody can.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Be sure of. So might not take that guy? That's
a generational talent there. This is what I don't understand.
Speaker 7 (39:08):
Well, you can't do you have to have It's the
most important position in all sports, This quarterback in the NFL. Okay,
so you got to keep taking chances. You're always say,
if you don't have that quarterback, Dan, you're spinning your wheels.
They got Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, didn't make the playoffs. Okay,
so you are you gonna have all these pieces? That's
what they said. And I was a big Trent Dilfer supporter.
Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Ironically, you're in Baltimore, right.
Speaker 5 (39:31):
My homes have worn and raised in Baltimore.
Speaker 7 (39:33):
I right, how it all came full circle for me, Dan,
But people say, well, you needed everything around. They'd let
the Trent Dilfer go. They cut him loose the next
year for Elvis Kirback. They wanted to get better. Okay,
they felt like, okay, we need everything around Trent. But
he galvanized that team. He was the true leader. He
was the difference maker on a team. They were one nowhere.
T Trent took over that year. Okay, and he let
(39:54):
them all those wins. But it wasn't good enough even then.
Think about that, Dan, it was a long time ago.
It wasn't even good then. They had a super Bowl
winning quarterback. They kicked them to the curb to try
to get better. This has been going this thought process,
Dan has been going on a long time. The good
isn't good enough at the quarterback position in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
I need you to you gotta pace yourself because you
got to get ready for a Thursday. Here, Mel, I
mean you're you're in first round mode right now.
Speaker 7 (40:20):
I don't know about that. Dan, the voice that always
goes by, You're right by Thursday. I get all fired
up this week and they start yelling and screaming, and
by Thursday, Friday and Saturday you got nothing left. So
I'm with you. But hey, Dan, I could listen to
you say pace it. I've been listening to you say
pace it for about hell of a year's day we've
been together.
Speaker 5 (40:36):
Do I ever, Dan? Listen to Dan Patrick?
Speaker 2 (40:38):
I know, I know, I know. I think it's interesting though,
that your mock draft is saying this, this is your potential.
This is how you grade them, not what the philosophy
is of the teams. Is that correct?
Speaker 5 (40:52):
Well, philosophy?
Speaker 7 (40:52):
You want positions like I say, don't take a running
back in the first But I'm not going to grade
a kid like Ashton Genty or Amari and Hampton from
North Carolina and put him as my six fifth player
because I don't agree with taking your running back in
the first you great, I'm based on their ability, and
that's why all those running backs were rated high. I
have a philosophy that people said was idiotic, Dan, and
now they're all agreeing with it. They all agree with it.
Speaker 10 (41:13):
Now.
Speaker 7 (41:13):
You notice that how that's come full circle too. They
all said I was a nut. Now they say, oh,
you know, you shouldn't really draft a running back in
the first round unless you're one of those great teams
that just is missing the running back, or that team
won the CUSP that's just missing a running back. Tell
me a team Dan in the top ten right now
doesn't think they're going to be a pretty good team
this coming year. Tell me a team that thinks you're
going to be picking first next year. Tell me a
(41:34):
team going into next year's this coming season it thinks, oh,
we're going to be the worst team in the league
next year. Tell me a coach and that building or
a player in that building they were a GM or
an older that believes that. Okay, so to me, look
at Tennessee. They were within a whisker last year of
beating Chicago opening week of being the Jets. The second
week they ended up beating Houston. They had a lot
of games where they're just a mistake here or or
(41:54):
a block that wasn't made, or a drop pass whatever
it may, or penalty or whatever, or an interception to turnover.
So again, this is a fine line, Dan, Washington went
from being a team that was nothing to be because
they had to hit with Jaden Daniels. And that tells
you what we talk about a quarterback. They hit with
Jade and Daniels, and now look where they are now.
Look at the future of the Washington Commanders.
Speaker 5 (42:13):
Right.
Speaker 7 (42:13):
I give Cincinnati, Hey, you get a mulligan with Joe Burrow.
You're not getting two years with Joe Burrow where you
don't make the playoffs. You got an MVP quarterback, you
better get in the playoffs. I said I'll give you
one year. I'm not going to give you two. So
once you get that guy, you better win consistently.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Do you regret not being a GM in the NFL?
Speaker 7 (42:30):
Not at all, Dan, though I had that chance to
get into the league when a great probably the best
friend I ever had in the NFL, where we're all
you think about Ernie you Corsi general manager who was
going to bring me in.
Speaker 5 (42:40):
At age twenty three, before I came to.
Speaker 7 (42:42):
ESPN, Dan, he offered me the position to come work
for him, just do whatever now as an assistant GM
like some you know. Erroneously said it was just to
be his assistant as a young kid coming in. If
I need kaiper to go wherever, I'll send them if
I need him to find out something else. And I
said great. He said, what do you want to do?
He said, just keep going through the eighty three draft.
Speaker 5 (43:00):
Will announce you in July.
Speaker 7 (43:01):
I had the NFL security come down and interview and
go through all the process to be accepted in and
all that.
Speaker 5 (43:07):
So I was gonna that was all gonna happen.
Speaker 7 (43:09):
In July, Ernie had drafted John Elway without his knowledge.
Er John Elway was traded to Denver. There was talking
about the Colts leaving town. Ernie would obviously be leaving
as well. He wasn't going to bring me in as
his guy, knowing the future is so uncertain for him
with this organization. He called me in June, Dan and
he said.
Speaker 5 (43:26):
No, I can't bring you in.
Speaker 7 (43:28):
I said, I said, okay, what do you want me
to do?
Speaker 5 (43:30):
He said, Hey, nobody knows that I was going to
do this.
Speaker 7 (43:32):
It hasn't an announced to anybody. You've got a great
business going. Keep doing what you're doing. Everybody craves that
type of information.
Speaker 5 (43:39):
Keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 7 (43:40):
I did, and guess what, five months later, got a
call from ESPN to come up an interview for the job.
Got that started in nineteen eighty four. So without Ernie
caring about a twenty three year old kid, and he
would have just brought me in, I'd have been with
the Colts, hit a left. I'd have been gone at
some point. ESPN would have had another draft analyst, and
I don't know what that go I'd be doing right now, Dan, But.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
That leads me to what happen. Happen with Brent Musburger.
I campaigned for him. I reached out to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame, the Pete Roseld Award. I'd like
to do the same with you. I think you should
be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 7 (44:10):
I appreciate that, Dan, but I don't. I don't, I really,
I never. I just believe there's so many people that
just you get you're fortunate, you get a little lucky,
on your side.
Speaker 5 (44:19):
You're around great people. I was, Dan, work with you.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
All those you you changed, You changed an industry. You
what you have meant to the NFL can it's it's
a different version of John Facenda, Like he was the
voice and you were. You were the draft guy. Like,
look at what it's a cottage industry that you created
(44:42):
that is contributions to the game. I know you're modest,
I don't care. I'm going forward with it. You you
deserve to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 8 (44:51):
You do, Dan.
Speaker 7 (44:52):
Your great friend Andy Poland has been saying the same thing.
I tell Andy the same thing. You know, Andy, and
he said he's gonna. I said, you know to me,
you get into this and you see so many people
that were responsible with ESPN for what's happened.
Speaker 5 (45:04):
So you say I did this.
Speaker 7 (45:05):
ESPN really did it, Dan, because they televised this thing
when the NFL didn't want it to be televised.
Speaker 5 (45:10):
Think about that.
Speaker 7 (45:11):
Think about all the great producers that were from Bill
Fitz who offered me that position in eighty four, all
the way up John Wildhack. You think about what he did.
Freddy Gadelli. Freddie Goadelli was able to coach me along
and teach me so many things about this business. Jay Rothman,
Brian Ryder now, Robert Dampsky, all the great producers.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
Way you're giving your Hall of Fame speech, Wayne.
Speaker 5 (45:30):
Markman is believing in me all these years. Seth has
been a great friend.
Speaker 7 (45:34):
So all the ESPN guys, Dan, they were responsible, and
all the people that cut those highlight packs, that all
that worked behind, they were responsible for the drastics. That's
keep in mind. Dan, ESPN televised draft before I got here. Okay,
so the draft was on a ESPN because before I
became a part of the telecast changed you changed.
Speaker 5 (45:51):
Well, I appreciate that. But for John for sending what
you just said.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
The voice, that voice.
Speaker 7 (45:55):
Dan pulled people into the NFL.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
You're the hair, he's the voicemail.
Speaker 7 (46:04):
My great friend, You'll make great friends. George Young, right,
late great George Young, Calvert Hall's owns. George Young, famous
famous graduate of Calvert Hall history.
Speaker 5 (46:11):
Great friend of mine.
Speaker 7 (46:12):
Used to write me handwritten notes after he got the book,
when suggestions and just thoughts. He'd called me during the
draft even and give me, get me to tell him
his opinion of what went on George Young always said
one couple of things. He said, first of all, when
you draft a player is just as important as who
you select. So value is important. He said to me
yours when I basically when I started ESPN, you got
(46:34):
to you gotta get a voice, coach Mail, you got
to get that ball to you gotta get that Baltimore
accent out of that. You gotta lose that Baltimore accent.
George Always, I said, Charles, I'm not.
Speaker 5 (46:42):
Going I gotta change it.
Speaker 7 (46:43):
Whatever I am, I am, and it's not. It doesn't
resonate and his voice isn't getting done. I can't change
my voice. George, you got to get that Baltimore accent
and lose it. You're never gonna have any chance. So
it was funny all the conversations I look back to
with George and like Elady of course, and my great
friend Jack Faulkner with the Ams was phenomenal back in
the day. Today, I mean, all the way, all the
(47:03):
way through my career between Jack Ernie George.
Speaker 2 (47:07):
Save it for your Hall of Fame speech, Save.
Speaker 5 (47:09):
It, I would say, give that up. You know, I
got a lot of people in the lake that hate me.
Speaker 7 (47:15):
You know, I got a lot of a lot of
people know they have hated me for a long time.
I do not think anything n f L related through
the Hall of Fame whatever, that will never work hand
in hand.
Speaker 6 (47:27):
Then no.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
Uh, I'd say pace yourself, but you're not capable, and uh,
good to talk to you. As always, We'll see you.
Thank you, Take everybody
Hosts And Creators
Todd "Fritzy" Fritz
Dan Patrick
Patrick "Seton" O'Connor
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