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Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.

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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin

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cowher on Fox Sports Radio.

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Oh.

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Here we go on a Tuesday

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loaded, ready to roll in

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La. It's the Herd wherever you may be and however

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you may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.

0:39

One hour from now. The

0:41

Herd Hierarchy. Top ten teams

0:43

getting tougher and tougher to do that. What do you do with

0:45

Detroit now? What do you

0:47

do with Dallas now? One hour from now?

0:49

The Herd Hierarchy. So tonight the

0:52

NBA Champs, Jmax hosting

0:54

the Lakers, feasting on the Lakers

0:56

Suns Warriors Game seven

0:59

Tuesday night. I

1:01

am I'm ordering in. I'm

1:03

gonna be lazy, guys, sit on the couch and

1:05

watch sports tonight. That's what we get paid

1:07

to do. I can't wait.

1:08

And we're coming off a great Monday where the Houston

1:11

Astros lost.

1:12

Everybody's excited. The cheeters are vaguished.

1:15

I'm much to the Lakers win by tonight, Colin, I'm just curious

1:17

ten or twenty.

1:19

Well, it's nice to dream.

1:21

So this is interesting. So

1:23

the Niners, who hadn't lost a regular season

1:26

game and seemingly forever, now on a two

1:28

game sked. They fall behind, they're on the

1:30

road. Those are tough games to win. Blah

1:32

blah blah. So the Niners are now

1:34

owen thirty six under Kyle Shanahan,

1:36

Owen thirty six. When they trail by eight plus

1:39

points in the fourth quarter in the regular season or

1:41

playoffs, they don't have the big ability to come

1:43

from behind. First of all, A, it's

1:45

hard to come from behind when you're down by over a

1:47

touchdown in the fourth quarter for anybody. And

1:50

B there's a reason for it, because

1:52

the coach and the system are the star, not

1:54

the quarterback who does come

1:57

from behind to win down eight plus

2:00

Lway, Brady Peyton, Manning,

2:02

Patrick Mahomes all time greats. But

2:05

in San Francisco, the system

2:08

and the roster, because you don't

2:10

pay the quarterback anything, is the star. And

2:13

we now see the limitations to this. It's

2:15

why Kyle's the best coach in the league, arguably

2:17

without a trophy. One mediocre

2:19

quarterback, two good quarterback has won

2:21

a Super Bowl in twenty years, Nick Foles, and

2:24

it was a shootout to the very end. So

2:26

last night brock Perty made some good

2:29

throws. I've said before he's good. I

2:31

won't go to very good or

2:33

exceptionally. He's not big, doesn't have a big arm,

2:36

he's not a big time athlete. He's good.

2:38

He makes more good throws than Jordan

2:40

Love. But I think Jordan loves a miss. He's

2:42

good. But in the last two weeks,

2:45

missing a couple of pieces on the road

2:47

in trailing, it doesn't feel the

2:49

same. Remember how Maholmes struggled

2:51

all night. Remember against the Jets,

2:54

struggle, struggle, struggle. Then there's seven minutes left

2:56

and against the Jets defense in Robert Sala on

2:58

the road, it's like, boys, jump

3:00

on my shoulders. I'm gonna carry you

3:02

down, slide by the goal line, walk

3:04

out of here with a win. It's what Jalen Hurts

3:07

in Kansas City do with Mahomes. Mahomes

3:09

and Hurts are twelve and two. This year, and

3:12

until this weekend, I didn't think

3:14

either offense had an identity.

3:17

But when you have a star quarterback Jalen Hurts

3:19

in Philly Mahomes in Kansas City,

3:21

you can trail in the fourth, you can play poorly,

3:24

you cannot have an identity and keep stacking

3:26

wins. There is a way brock

3:28

Purdy has to play, and it's leading

3:30

in the fourth, getting good

3:33

protection. He's good, He's just not very

3:35

good. No, he's better than Trey Lance, CJ. Bethard,

3:38

Nick Mullins got better numbers than them

3:40

because he's a better player than those. But if you look

3:42

around the NFL, you know how this thing's

3:44

gonna end. It's gonna end like it ended for Jimmy Garoppolo.

3:46

And I think brock Purty is a healthier,

3:50

more mobile, cheaper version of Jimmy

3:52

Garoppolo. I don't think

3:54

he has a significantly better arm

3:56

or a significantly better athlete,

3:59

but he's healthier, moves a little better.

4:01

You can move the pocket, no doubt about that. And he's

4:03

cheap. But last night told

4:05

us what we know that brock perty

4:07

is good. He can make good throws. There's

4:09

a lot of guys in this league they're good,

4:12

but great and special wins that game.

4:15

Go back to the Mahomes Jets game, and

4:17

that Jets defense is significantly

4:19

better than Minnesota's defense. And when San

4:21

Francisco got the ball back with a minute eleven

4:24

left, you know it, I know it. We

4:26

were all thinking the same thing. They got no shot.

4:29

Jalen Hurts, Trevor

4:32

Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Patrick

4:34

Mahomes, you'd be like, we got ballgame

4:36

here. When they got that ball with a minute

4:38

eleven left, you were sitting there, even as

4:40

a Niner fan, thinking, man,

4:43

can't believe we lost this game. You

4:45

knew it. And so again, if

4:48

you'd have had Hurts, you'd

4:50

have had Mahomes, Burrow. And those

4:52

are the ones. Those are the ones that are

4:54

gonna end up hoisting trophies. And

4:56

so I think

4:59

I know how this thing's gonna end for San Francisco.

5:01

They're gonna be in the NFC Championship or the Super

5:03

Bowl, and you're going to be discouraged and

5:05

it's not going to end the exact way you want, even

5:07

though you're absolutely sure you have the better coach

5:09

and the better roster. Again, perty

5:11

was good but not

5:14

special. Here's Kyle after. I

5:17

thought he played really well.

5:20

As the one miss thro to

5:22

Juan was the one tough

5:24

play that he didn't make. It's frush

5:26

only gets seventeen points. But you know the

5:28

guys, you know when it's a game like

5:30

that. We we got to score on all those and when

5:33

you turn it over three times, that's three drives without

5:35

points in. And then we had that missfield

5:37

goal too, So can't

5:39

do that when the game goes away.

5:40

It did all right. Speaking of good

5:42

not great, I want to talk about Kirk Cousins here,

5:44

and I think it's really interesting

5:48

who Kirk Cousins played his greatest

5:50

Monday night football game against ever San

5:53

Francisco. And I'll get to that in a second,

5:55

but it's very interesting that

5:58

it was Cousins over San Francisco. So

6:00

the Vikings are three and four. They're not a super Bowl

6:02

team. They may wedge and sneak

6:05

their way into the wild card in the weaker NFC.

6:08

But if I could, I would trade Kirk Cousins today.

6:10

If I was Minnesota, I would trade him

6:13

today. Got a week left to the trade deadline.

6:15

It's the best he's ever played. It was a standalone

6:17

game and it was against the Niners, great defense.

6:19

His stock is at an all time high today, but

6:22

he has a no trade clause. Now you can

6:24

trade everybody eventually, but he's going

6:26

to want to go to certain places. You could get a first

6:28

round pick in my opinion today for Kirk Cousins. After

6:31

last night or maybe a couple seconds,

6:33

that's a high point. He dominated

6:36

the Niners, toyed with them

6:38

after that first interception. He was great

6:41

with a rookie receiver. No,

6:44

Justin Jefferson toyed with

6:46

the Niners bylo

6:49

Sell High and the Vikings

6:52

next six weeks are nonsense.

6:55

Look at the quarterbacks they play, Jordan

6:57

Love, Desmond Ritter, Justin

6:59

Field, maybe Jimmy Garoppolo, Russell

7:01

Wilson struggling Derek Carr. You could see them

7:04

going five and one, with Justin Jefferson coming

7:06

back, Jordan Addison emerging as

7:08

a star wide receiver, a very clever offensive

7:10

coach TJ. Hawkins, and one of the best tigh ends

7:12

in the league. You could absolutely see

7:14

Minnesota going on a run and it

7:16

would be the same tease you've

7:19

had in Minnesota for six years. He'd

7:21

then go on the road against Philadelphia and

7:23

get boxed. He'd go on the road

7:25

and face the Niners again and get worked.

7:28

He'd go on the road and have to face Detroit

7:30

and get smoked. You know

7:32

how it's gonna end. I would trade

7:34

him today, but he has that no trade clause,

7:36

right. So Kirk's reportedly wants

7:39

to stay put, and everybody loves him and

7:41

he is lovable, and he played great last night.

7:43

But it is interesting because I believe

7:46

when Justin Jefferson comes back, I

7:48

believe this team is gonna go on a

7:50

little bit of a heater now, mostly

7:52

due to facing bad quarterbacks or

7:54

second tier quarterbacks. And you're

7:56

gonna get nothing for him at the end of the year because you had to

7:58

double down aget In do this. You're really going

8:01

to bring this thing back again for three or four years.

8:03

I mean, seriously, what's the standard in your

8:05

division? The standard is the Packers Super Bowls,

8:08

Bart Starbrett Farv, Aaron Rodgers

8:10

super Bowls. I

8:12

mean, you know, the Vikings aren't one of them. The Twins aren't

8:15

winning them, the Tea Wolves aren't winning them. That

8:17

market is wide open. Go get a star quarterback.

8:19

And you know, we even said this in the offseason.

8:21

It kind of felt like they were ready to move on, So

8:24

you've got to take your emotion out of it. Today

8:26

would be the day get on the phone and move Kirk

8:29

Cousins. But what's gonna

8:31

happen. It's ironic because one of the teams,

8:34

and I do think he'll have a market. It

8:36

may not be a huge market. It'll be a four

8:38

team market. Derek Carr

8:41

was a two team market. Garoppolo was a one

8:43

team market. This will be a four or five team

8:45

market, maybe a six team market, maybe

8:47

a four team market. But you know who's going to be

8:50

in that market, ironically San

8:52

Francisco, who will end up potentially

8:54

being very disappointed that Brock

8:57

Purdy can't beat a Philadelphia

8:59

and Jalen Hurts or even

9:01

in Detroit and Jared Goff. Don't sell

9:03

your Lions because of the Ravens. Don't do that. Nobody

9:05

beats Baltimore from the NFC. If

9:07

you've never faced Lamar Jackson before, the first

9:09

time you do, you get smoked. Sixteen

9:12

and one is Lamar Jackson against the NFC. Don't

9:14

sell your Lions stock. They're going to win eleven twelve games,

9:16

make the playoffs, host a playoff game. Detroit's good,

9:19

Maybe not great. They're good, but

9:21

it was interesting watching this. Brock Purty,

9:24

Oh, he's good. He's very, very very good. I kind of feel

9:27

like I know how it's going to eventually end. Kirk Cousins

9:29

is great, and I feel like I know how that's going to end.

9:32

But hear me out. Even though he has a no trade clause,

9:34

everything's tradable. If I could,

9:36

I'd get on the phone and move him today, and

9:39

then I'd lose some games. It's a great college

9:41

quarterback draft class, at least very good, and

9:43

I'd take my chances. The here's Kevin O'Connell.

9:45

After the game, we could go for

9:47

the next thirty five forty minutes about the way

9:49

he played individual plays where

9:52

he was overcoming some circumstances,

9:55

moving within the pocket, trusting the

9:57

protection, and seeing the whole field

10:00

against that team. That's

10:02

big time quarterback playing in my mind.

10:03

Yes, Kirk Cousins has big

10:06

time quarterback games, usually

10:08

not on Sunday Night Football and Monday Night

10:10

Football, and almost never against great

10:12

teams. Right, He's got a really bad record

10:15

against playoff team standalone games. That's

10:17

why when he has his best standalone

10:20

Monday Night game against the Niners, I'd get

10:22

on the phone today and I know they call

10:24

it Minnesota. Nice. People in Minnesota are

10:26

nice. He's the best. He was on Netflix.

10:28

Everybody loves him. This is the high

10:30

point. Now what's the market for

10:33

him? I don't know. You'd need somebody to get an

10:35

injured quarterback that's pretty good in the next week.

10:39

But it is interesting. Everybody today is like, look

10:41

at Kirk, and I'm like, I've seen it for years. I know what he

10:43

is. He's good. He's somewhere between

10:45

ten and thirteen in the league. We know he's good. If

10:49

you love Dak, you gotta love him. If you love

10:51

him, you gotta love Dak. But I'd get on

10:53

the phone see what I could do.

10:54

J mack am, I nuts, No,

10:57

you're smart, and there's one hundred percent that's what you

10:59

gotta do. The problem is, Colin, where

11:02

is this market? The forty nine ers are doing it, Brock

11:04

Perty's fine.

11:05

They're not doing it now. It's seasons and though

11:07

because I don't you think Minnesota's going to go back in and do

11:09

another three year extension.

11:11

Well, there is a lot of love between Shanahan

11:13

and Kirk Cousins.

11:14

You can go read about it.

11:14

You remember that coaching staff in Washington, and I just

11:16

looked and loved him.

11:17

I mean it was like.

11:18

McVeigh, Mike McDaniel, a

11:20

lot of guys, and they all love Kirk Cousins because

11:23

of the play action and they like what he can do.

11:26

You basically have a week to trade him. That's right.

11:28

The only team I tried to come up with last night.

11:32

Atlanta Falcons.

11:34

They has some nice offensive pieces, they have.

11:36

Great pieces, but is the problem is

11:38

Kirk has the no trade cause. So he could say, I don't

11:40

want to go to Atlanta. I don't know Arthur Smith, I'm

11:42

gonna damage well.

11:43

And also season at Kilds say I've

11:45

got this beautiful home and family, my kids love

11:47

it. I got Jordis Addison, Jordan Addison,

11:50

Justin's coming back, TJ Hawkins. I

11:52

mean, because you could look at him and say, who's

11:54

got a rookie receiver tight

11:57

end and the star receiver better than me in the league And the answer

11:59

is maybe nobody.

12:00

So Minnesota would respond to that, Yeah, Kirk,

12:02

we get that, but we're gonna win what nine

12:05

or ten games and then losing the first round. Well, we would

12:07

rather see what we got with our young

12:09

guy, the kid from BYU Haul.

12:10

Well, if if Minnesota is not

12:13

gonna go in on him, wouldn't

12:16

you rather sit down with the organization

12:18

and see if there's a path that you like.

12:20

By the way, I get Bjon Robinson, Kyle

12:23

Pitts, Drake London, Well,

12:25

by the way, a fairly decent o line

12:28

and a team that will give you if you go

12:30

get him a three to four year contract. It's

12:34

something that I mean, if to bring you in,

12:36

we're gonna make a commitment to you for the next three to four

12:38

years. We talked about the Jets prior. If

12:40

Atlanta may win their division, Folks, the division

12:42

is so bad, they're not gonna have the ability

12:45

to get a top ten quarterback. Atlanta's gonna win

12:47

nine games.

12:48

And that's what Minnesota's gonna do if they keep

12:50

Cousins, and they're gonna look at the quarterback draft

12:52

and be like, we can't get Michael Penny're.

12:54

Not getting Drake may Caleb or Michael Pennrick.

12:56

Forget it, They're not getting those guys. So

12:59

my point is, now's the time you're

13:01

three and four. You're not going to go anywhere end of the season.

13:03

But I think Atlanta is actually a great call by

13:05

you, because if I was Kirk, I'd be like, what I

13:07

wants another four year deal? Okay,

13:10

I've lived in Washington. I went to college in Michigan

13:13

State, right with Misigot State. Then I lived in DC,

13:16

that I lived in Minnesota. I can end my career in Atlanta.

13:18

Those are beautiful cities, and I got all

13:20

these young, inexpensive

13:22

star offensive pieces. I mean, when you

13:24

have Jefferson Addison and t J. Hawkinson,

13:26

you don't want to go to the desert. You don't want to go to

13:28

the barren wasteland. Those are Minnesota

13:31

didn't have back that good. You

13:34

know, they've got a wide receiver. They'll

13:36

probably draft another. So my takeaway

13:38

is Atlanta's may win their

13:40

division. And it's by the way, it's

13:43

a weak division.

13:44

If you're Atlanta, you go to Kirk and say, hey, Kirk,

13:46

remember Tom Brady left New England to come to our

13:48

week division or sorry division.

13:51

We want a lot of games. We got to the super Bowl, way to the playoffs.

13:53

Bak Baker Mayfield led the division last

13:55

week. I think you can come down here.

13:57

I mean, I'm just saying you got a week to move him

14:00

I would think about it. Okay, we got

14:02

a lot of stuff today. NBA season starts

14:04

tonight, and the Michigan

14:06

controversy. Somebody with a shaky iPhone

14:09

tape tape signals on the side.

14:11

You know I do that every week. Maybe I'm an

14:14

NCUBA violation too. I take my

14:16

iPhone to USC games and bounces around

14:18

and I have it on Lincoln Riley. I'm probably breaking

14:20

rules for the nc DOUBLEA.

14:23

They hate you and they ain't you. I'll tell you that

14:26

it was perdue. Nobody would care. It's Harbaugh

14:28

the world ending. It's unbelievable.

14:30

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd

14:32

weekdays and noon eastern non am Pacific

14:35

on Fox Sports Radio FS one

14:38

and the iHeartRadio app.

14:39

All right, So NBA season starts

14:41

tonight, Warriors and Suns,

14:43

two star studded teams. Lakers

14:46

travel to Denver to

14:48

take on the Nuggets, the defending

14:50

champs, who I think should be favored this year as

14:52

well. So Jannis

14:55

got Dame not long ago, right,

14:57

he demanded a star if he was

14:59

going to sign an extension. Jannis

15:01

hinted for about a year. Boy, I'd be interested

15:04

in interested in Golden

15:06

State what a club that is. And they made a deal

15:08

to get Dame from the Blazers, so now

15:10

he has an extension. He and Dame

15:13

are going to run it for four years. The

15:15

Bucks are in a really good spot. Why because

15:17

they're one of five teams in my opinion, that

15:20

can win a championship, and that's about the number

15:22

every year in the NFL, maybe at six

15:24

college football, four to five. I

15:26

think the Nuggets, Phoenix, Boston,

15:28

Milwaukee and the Lakers should be the

15:30

favorites to win it. I think the Lakers

15:33

are a drop off from the Celtics, Suns, Nuggets

15:35

closer to the Bucks. I do worry about Milwaukee's

15:38

age, but this sets up. Now,

15:40

this contract with Jannis,

15:42

coupled with Dame, this sets

15:44

up the next four years. It's going to

15:46

be about legacy. Do you belong

15:49

Jannis in a list of the all

15:51

time great players? Bird,

15:54

Magic, Kobe, MJ

15:57

Staph Duncan, Lebron

16:00

Wade. Because today what you

16:02

are is a really unique

16:04

talented player. You

16:06

got some MVP cache and

16:09

the title title

16:12

in Milwaukee. You have

16:14

four years to change that legacy.

16:17

Kd got, Steph changed his legacy.

16:20

D Wade was a one title guy got Lebron,

16:23

changed his legacy, Shaq got Kobe

16:25

Magic, Kareem right now

16:27

is Giannis just Dirk Novitzky,

16:29

but a better defender, one

16:32

title, beloved in a city we

16:35

kind of wonder if he should leave, decides

16:38

not to. For years

16:41

we wait for him to get the second guy got

16:44

some MVP cache. But

16:47

if you want to be in the Duncan Shack

16:50

Russell, MJ Kobe

16:53

Staff, Lebron class

16:56

one title and a unique game

16:58

and being beloved in one city, and

17:00

some MVPs will not do so,

17:03

I think this is the time to build the legacy.

17:06

I worry about Milwaukee's age.

17:08

I think the Boston Celtics in the East have

17:10

Tatum and Jalen Brown both

17:12

in their prime. Dame's out of it, so

17:14

is Brook Lopez, so is Chris Middleton,

17:17

who's increasingly fragile. It

17:19

is Yannis. I certainly think

17:21

they'll get to the Eastern Conference finals. Cleveland's

17:24

still too young. Don't trust Philadelphia,

17:27

but I think Boston now is the best team

17:29

in the East, and Yannis right now is great.

17:33

One title, MVP stuff,

17:35

beloved in the city, unique.

17:38

You want to get in the next group. This is

17:40

your four year run.

17:41

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd

17:43

weekdays and noon Eastern not a em Pacific

17:46

sources.

17:47

Michigan staffer staffer on

17:49

Harbaugh's staff had tickets at

17:51

eleven Big Ten schools. Okay,

17:54

you do get this as the flategate. If

17:57

kirk Cousins was

18:00

to have a slightly overinflated

18:02

ball for a couple of games, it

18:05

would not get a suffix. It would not be called

18:07

gate, it would not be a story. It'd

18:09

be a Saturday Night live skit kirk

18:12

Cousins was cheating. It would literally be

18:14

on Saturday Night. But with Brady.

18:17

It's major controversy in

18:19

New York Times expos

18:21

Russian espionage because you

18:23

couldn't beat them, and right

18:25

now nobody can touch Michigan.

18:28

They humiliate Ohio State, who

18:30

humiliates generally the rest of the conference.

18:33

If Purdue was doing this, nobody

18:35

would care. It would be the eighth story

18:38

on Foxsports dot Com. Nobody

18:41

would care. So let me get this straight. A

18:44

staffer who bought tickets on seat

18:47

geek and used his iPhone in the third

18:49

deck. That's changing everything.

18:53

When they created this rule in the mid

18:55

nineties, they didn't do it because they thought

18:57

it was a big competitive advantage. They

19:00

did it because they thought it was unfair to

19:02

the have nots. They couldn't afford a staffer

19:05

before that you could do it, and they created

19:07

it trying to eliminate like

19:10

cam quarters and

19:12

film crews. Have you gone

19:15

to a football game in twenty twenty three,

19:17

everybody's got a phone, everybody's

19:20

taping. Steve Sarkeishana, Texas

19:22

said, there's a reason we're

19:24

doing stuff on the sidelines that looks

19:26

like we're hiding play calls.

19:29

Signal ceiling is real.

19:33

It is a definite factor in

19:35

college football. I

19:37

think some teams rely on it much

19:40

more than others, and so you

19:42

do have to devise it. That's why we got boards

19:45

and signalers and different

19:47

colored shirts on the sidelines and every

19:49

which way of how we try

19:51

to get the play to our players.

19:55

Everybody's doing it, buying

19:58

tickets on seat geek, third deck,

20:00

iPhone shaky. This is not Russian

20:03

espionage. And by the way, college

20:05

fanboys new rule. If

20:08

you didn't know a rule existed

20:10

before this story, you can't be outraged

20:12

by it. Did you also know you're not even allowed

20:15

to go to other teams games? That's

20:17

outdated. This stuff was created

20:19

for film crews and camquarders in nineteen

20:22

ninety four because they felt bad because

20:24

Michigan and Ohio State had money and

20:26

the other schools really didn't, and so they

20:28

thought, well, that's not entirely fair. It's

20:30

twenty twenty three. Everybody's got an iPhone

20:33

and you can go buy produce best players.

20:35

That's a bigger issue, and that is

20:38

now legal. I'm supposed to be bummed down

20:40

about an iPhone, as shay Oh,

20:42

look that, as Steve Sarkasian

20:45

said, everybody's doing that. It's

20:48

not changing the games, the scores

20:50

and the outcomes. You know who's good

20:52

this year the same teams that were good in the seventies,

20:55

Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan,

20:58

Alabama, oh Glahoma.

21:01

It's the same teams that were good forty and

21:03

fifty years ago. So you

21:05

know, when you go from zero to sixty from

21:07

I didn't know a rule exists too. I'm totally

21:10

outraged by it. What's really outraged

21:12

with deflate gate? It was Tom and

21:15

nobody could beat Tom. In fact,

21:17

if you went back and looked at the numbers with Tom,

21:20

they were better posts to flate Gate. They

21:22

were better after he was nabbed.

21:25

It was total nonsense and a total non

21:28

story, but it was Tom

21:30

and this is about Harbaugh who

21:33

was completely distanced himself from

21:35

even Ohio State, and that's

21:37

not easy to do. Two NBA Insiders

21:40

podcasting twice a week to

21:42

plug you right into the NBA grape.

21:44

Fine all happening in only one

21:46

place. This League Uncut,

21:49

the new NBA podcast with me Chris

21:51

Haynes and me Mark Stein

21:54

join us as we team up to expound

21:56

on everything we're covering. Hearing and

21:58

Chason.

21:59

Listen to This League Uncut with Chris

22:01

Haynes and Mark Stein.

22:03

On the iHeartRadio app, Apple

22:05

Podcasts, or wherever you get your

22:07

podcasts.

22:08

The Eagles traded for one of the Tennessee Titans

22:10

better players, Kevin Byern. He's

22:12

a safety, a couple time Pro Bowl or very good player.

22:15

And Howie Roseman is the general manager

22:17

of the Philadelphia Eagles and the stories about him

22:19

are legendary. He was in college. This

22:21

is all he ever wanted to do. And you

22:24

see it in life. The people who want it more win

22:26

more. It's been sec football my entire life.

22:28

They just want it more. In the South and they win more.

22:31

And I see it in sports all the time. Do you really care

22:33

Howie Roseman lives, breathes, eat,

22:36

sleep being a GM so he's kind

22:38

of at a different level, constantly making

22:40

moves. He's got the ok from his owner

22:42

to be aggressive. They are think

22:45

of and he just a really unique executive

22:47

in this league. Here's a list just

22:49

to show you how much talent they have,

22:52

and this is how we making deals. I

22:54

put a list today together of the Eagles

22:57

top ten players. Look at how good this roster

22:59

is. So Jason Kelsey at center. Now

23:01

he's near the end, but he's the best center I

23:03

think in over a decade. Jalen Hurts

23:05

is obviously MVP talk last year,

23:08

Lane Johnson first or second best right tackle,

23:10

going to be a Hall of Famer. Aj Brown really

23:13

having a good year. Sometimes wants

23:15

the ball, makes it known, but he's great. Hassan

23:17

Reddick, that guy is just a big

23:20

play specialist. Darius

23:22

Slay at corner. Jalen Carter's already

23:24

becoming unblockable. Kevin Byern

23:26

at eight a safety and they've been kind of weak and

23:29

beat up at safety, so they could use one. Dallas

23:31

Goddard is a very good tight end. Philadelphia

23:34

couldn't say the last time they didn't have good tight ends.

23:37

Jordan Malatta is a tackle

23:39

for them, very very good. So I did

23:41

this list. I did not include

23:45

Josh Sweat, who would

23:47

be top five for many teams in the league.

23:49

I didn't include Devonte Smith, Fletcher

23:52

Cox, James Bradberry, or Jordan Davis.

23:55

They have fifteen elite players, like really,

23:57

now, brad Berry, I'm a little cool on, but

24:00

that is

24:03

a that is a totally stacked roster,

24:06

and they're hyper aggressive. And I think sometimes

24:08

that's the difference between the Cincinnatis and the Philadelphia

24:11

is is that Cincinnati's history is they

24:13

go in with seven draft picks and they draft seven

24:16

guys and they're not willing

24:18

to take big swings. Philadelphia

24:21

is, and they've been totally rewarded

24:23

by it. Top of the hour Herd hierarchy.

24:26

Here's the other one. So Matt Lafleur

24:29

was genuinely disappointed

24:32

after Jordan Loves performance.

24:36

Okay, so now now

24:39

take a deep breath watch

24:42

the film. Here's

24:46

Matt Lafleur today or

24:48

yesterday on Jordan Love.

24:51

It all works in Unison and so the

24:53

better everybody is around him, the better

24:55

he's gonna look. Our confidence in

24:58

him is not wavering one bit. So

25:02

certainly, I think that's

25:05

the play caller. You put a lot of

25:07

onus on yourself when

25:09

things aren't going well, and

25:11

we'll continue to do that. But we've got

25:13

to find a way to generate more points, because

25:16

when you're generating points, it's

25:20

just a totally different narrative.

25:22

Okay, this is real, transparent, and you know what

25:24

the Packers did. Their

25:26

natural reaction was Jordan,

25:29

that's it extra

25:31

prep time. They flew home, had

25:34

a meeting in US as a staff, and they

25:36

decided, we can't bury this kid. He's

25:38

already struggling with confidence, so let's

25:40

blame ourselves here to not tank

25:43

the season. So this is again sort

25:45

of the protective measures we

25:47

saw with the play calling. We've

25:50

seen it all year. They were deeply

25:52

disappointed. I went and looked at

25:54

the different highlights in this

25:56

game yesterday. It was worse than I thought.

26:00

Averaging four point three points in the first

26:02

half, dead last in the league. Jordan's

26:04

completing fifty three percent of his throws, and

26:08

that's with a very smart head coach against two

26:10

bad defenses in the last two weeks with extra

26:12

prep time. And you could say,

26:14

well, Colin, that's not fair. Aaron

26:17

Rodgers, he struggled. Let's go

26:20

back to Aaron Rodgers' rookie season.

26:22

Let's go back to Aaron Rodgers rookie season

26:24

when it wasn't as easy for quarterbacks.

26:27

Right back then the rule changes

26:30

have all moved to the offense. What was

26:32

Aaron Rodgers passer

26:34

rating rookie year ninety one and a half.

26:38

What is Jordan Love's passer

26:41

rating so far? Sixty four fifty

26:45

three percent completion percentage sixty

26:47

four In these are scripted plays in the first

26:49

half, So

26:52

Aaron's by the way, I'll give you two others.

26:56

First half's Aaron, Oh, excuse me, my bad.

26:58

Aaron as a first year star in the first half

27:00

passer rating was one hundred. So let's

27:02

go. You could say, well, this is not fair. He's

27:05

young, he's a rookie, he's a kid. A

27:07

lot of people struggle in the first half. C J.

27:09

Stroud rookie first halfs

27:12

no run game, instability

27:15

in the organization, defensive coach,

27:17

his passer rating in the first half ninety

27:20

four. Anthony Richardson,

27:22

who we worried hadn't played enough college football,

27:25

injected into an average team

27:27

passer rating eighty seven. The

27:30

worst lie you can tell is to yourself.

27:33

So this is basically they were

27:35

disappointed. They came back. They knew

27:37

was his staff. We can't bury this kid. He's struggling

27:39

with confidence right

27:42

now. First half, extra

27:45

prep time, bad defenses. Jordan

27:48

Love scripted plays, fifty three percent

27:50

completion percentage, sixty three point

27:52

nine passer rating. That's bad.

27:54

That's against the Raiders. Broncos grouped in

27:56

there. That's with extra time, bye

27:59

week, so you

28:02

know it's I'm not trying to pick in anybody, but

28:04

it's interesting. Matt Lafleur's

28:07

instant reaction visceral, utter

28:09

disappointment. We got to be better.

28:12

Take a deep breath, come home, regroup,

28:15

talk to coaches. You know, all of us

28:17

have to call a better game. There is

28:19

no Andy Reid doesn't call a perfect

28:21

game. That's nonsense. Nobody calls

28:23

a perfect game. Kyle Shanahan last night

28:25

got out coached. Gotta

28:28

make plays, especially in the first half.

28:30

You take a lead, you win the games.

28:32

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd

28:34

weekdays and Noone Eastern non am Pacific

28:37

on Fox Sports Radio FS one

28:39

and the iHeartRadio app heard

28:44

Hierarchy time. Now let's go the

28:46

top ten NFL teams according

28:48

to College. Number ten.

28:50

You know, I pushed back. I called him

28:53

the fake Gucci loafers of the NFL.

28:55

They looked the part, but you put them on the road

28:57

against Buffalo and Philadelphia and what is

28:59

Miami? They had one touchdown drive.

29:01

In fairness, though they've got a lot of good players,

29:04

the old lines banged up. They were missing five

29:06

starters on offense. Don't sell

29:08

all your Miami stock. They lead the NFL

29:10

in scoring they play, especially

29:13

when they play at home, better weather. They're no

29:15

fun to play. One of the only teams that can

29:18

outscore the best teams like Kansas City

29:20

and Baltimore in this league. But

29:22

again, there's

29:24

a lot of fake gold watch quality to

29:27

Miami. Where they play a certain way,

29:30

They're a heavyweight with a glass chin. They

29:32

fold quickly. I have them at ten.

29:34

Number nine.

29:35

You know, I don't love Dallas, but I do think

29:37

when they play a certain way, they're good.

29:39

But they're also the most penalized team. They're

29:42

highly dependent on CD LAMB. Dak

29:44

completes eighty one percent of his throws to Cede

29:47

Lamb, and that's where he usually

29:49

goes in crisis. I don't think they're

29:51

quite as talented as people think. Again,

29:54

lots of penalties, played the second

29:56

easiest schedule. But when

29:58

they play a certain way, and that's why they're

30:00

not a great team. When they can play with the lead, they

30:02

can pin their ears back. Dallas pretty good.

30:05

I have them at nine, number eight, but

30:07

I would take Cincinnati because they have Joe Burrow.

30:09

They have won three of four, They're getting healthy

30:11

coming off of buye. They give you a consistent

30:13

pass rush. They have the hardest remaining

30:16

schedule, and it would be nice if they were

30:18

not so dependent on Jamar Chase.

30:20

So last three games, ten plus targets.

30:23

It'd be nice if somebody else could

30:25

deliver beyond Burrow and Jamar

30:28

Chase. But they get a consistent pass

30:30

rush, They're good situationally. Burrow's

30:32

amazing. So I'll put them at eight, number

30:35

seven. Don't sell your lion stock. They're

30:37

gonna win twelve games. They have the second easiest

30:39

remaining schedule, Number four

30:41

total offense, Number two rush defense.

30:44

As I said, Lamar Jackson

30:46

is sixteen to one against the NFC. If you've

30:48

never faced Lamar Jackson, it is an

30:50

avalanche of speed and you don't know what the

30:52

hell to do with it. And so this is

30:55

what Lamar Jackson does. He destroys

30:57

people out of division the first time they see him.

31:00

Steelers, Bengals, Browns, get a

31:02

load of him. Kansas City, you have kind of

31:04

an idea how to fix the Rubik's cube. Detroit's

31:07

fine, great old line. I like a lot about

31:09

him. Don't sell your stock. They're gonna host

31:11

a playoff game. They're gonna win a playoff game. I

31:13

have them at seven, number six. I can't

31:15

believe I have the Steelers at six. This

31:18

defense though, fifty four straight games

31:20

under four hundred yards. But if you dig deep,

31:23

here's what's fascinating. Kenny

31:25

Pickett is good in the fourth quarter. Five

31:29

fourth quarter comebacks, six

31:32

game winning drives in his last eighteen starts.

31:34

Some of these games shouldn't be that close. But

31:37

Kenny Pickett in the fourth quarter this year, and

31:39

this is a real thing for a young quarterback. He's

31:41

got some swagging confidence. A one ZHO

31:43

three passer rating. This team

31:47

like they didn't play well this weekend.

31:49

In one.

31:51

They beat Baltimore. Pittsburgh's

31:53

got an ability in which this is what the good teams

31:55

do to scuff around

31:58

for two and a half three quarters and win

32:00

sometimes on the road. Pittsburgh,

32:02

I can't believe it. At six, number five

32:05

Jacksonville thirteen and five in their

32:07

last eighteen games, lead the

32:09

NFL in takeaways. Trevor Lawrence,

32:12

for the record in his last

32:14

full season of games sixteen to seventeen games,

32:16

has one hundred passer rating. He's

32:18

really good. I still

32:21

feel like they're in a rebuild a little

32:23

bit, although I don't think they are, but

32:26

I think they've got the weapons. I think they can win by

32:28

shootout. The only team I don't think

32:30

they can beat is Kansas City number

32:32

four San Francisco. Again, don't sell

32:34

all your stock, but we do get a reality

32:36

check on brock Purdy, who I've said, I think he's good,

32:39

but I don't think he's very good. Brock

32:42

Purty in the fourth quarter this year passer

32:45

rating of fifty four. Brock

32:47

Purty when trailing in the fourth quarter

32:50

this year, passer rating of seventeen. What

32:53

we saw last night, what

32:55

makes a special quarterback? And lway of

32:57

Brady and Mahomes is the ability fourth

33:00

quarter. Nothing's working, missing pieces.

33:03

Win Brock can't do that. That's

33:05

why he's good, but he doesn't even

33:07

qualify as very good. Number three

33:09

Philadelphia. They've lost a turnover battle in

33:11

three straight games. That worries me. They are sloppier

33:14

this year. Jalen Hurts ten giveaways,

33:16

not healthy. He is limping. That worries

33:19

me. But it's a stacked roster. Aj

33:21

Brown has emerged like we knew we eventually

33:23

would, as a star. The defense does

33:25

not allow big plays. They went and got

33:27

a safety on the back end. They've

33:29

been dinged up at the safety spot, so

33:32

they remain a really good roster. Smartly

33:35

coached. I thought the last two weeks

33:37

they found an identity offensively.

33:40

Finally Number two Kansas

33:42

City six and one right

33:45

six and zero since that lost to

33:47

the Lions. It is absolutely the fastest

33:50

defense and arguably the best in the Mahomes

33:52

era. They dominate their division.

33:55

Chargers are off as usual, Raiders

33:58

are average. Denver's a bit of a mess.

34:00

Thirteen straight wins against their division.

34:03

I don't think they have a great receiving

34:05

corps, but the Chargers Brandon Staley made

34:07

sure it looked like it in the first half this weekend,

34:10

Kansas City at two.

34:11

Number one.

34:12

Listen, I've been saying this for the last three weeks. Baltimore

34:15

is great Lamar Jackson. This

34:17

is easily the best version of him to me.

34:19

He is the second most dangerous quarterback

34:22

to face beyond Patrick Mahomes.

34:24

And they finally, this organization

34:26

is well run, but they've been real spotty.

34:29

No depth at wide receiver, Say

34:32

Flowers, Odell Beck, Nelson, Aguilar

34:34

is making plays, Mark Edwards. This is the best

34:37

Lamar. He is the highest

34:39

credited quarterback in the league. Their defense

34:41

is through the roof good. He's

34:43

top three in completion percentage, passer

34:45

rating, yards per play. This is

34:48

the best Lamar I've seen. And if you

34:50

ask me today, the two quarterbacks in this

34:52

league I would not want to face. Mahomes

34:55

won, Lamar

34:58

won a geese playing at

35:00

that level.

35:02

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd

35:04

weekdays and Noone Easter, not am Pacific.

35:07

Well, she's covered as many big events

35:09

as anybody in our space twenty five

35:12

years, NFL, NBA, six Olympics,

35:15

March Madness for another network

35:17

Golf. We're so glad to have Rachel

35:19

Nichols. NBA starts to night, and I think

35:21

we both love the NBA. I

35:24

grew up in the Pacific Northwest. We didn't win

35:26

a lot of titles, but everybody

35:28

hated the Lakers. But that's what makes the NBA

35:30

stars villains.

35:31

Your team beat my team, though I grew up

35:33

a Washington Bullets fan.

35:35

Kevin Greevy so so.

35:40

I, of course, you know, was too young to see

35:42

them actually win the title. And then by

35:44

the time I was old enough, your

35:47

team was beating them for the title, and then on

35:49

and on, and it's been a few decades

35:51

since they were in even a conference finals.

35:53

But who's who's keeping track? It's opening

35:56

Day. Everybody has a clean slate. Everybody wins.

35:58

The seventies at this day took turn Earns. Everybody

36:00

went in titles. No dynasties. Okay, let's start about

36:02

the Sun's Big Three. And you and I

36:05

were talking in the hallway a few hours ago. Is I'm

36:07

really excited for it. It's very rare. When

36:09

Shaq and Kobe were together, It's the only time in my life

36:12

the two best closers one perimeter, one

36:14

interior on the same team. I could

36:16

argue, you have this is very rare three

36:19

elite perimeter closers. It

36:21

may not be Katie Steph Clay, but

36:23

it's a reasonable fact simile, is it not.

36:26

Yeah?

36:26

Absolutely, I mean it's good enough.

36:27

I mean Katie Steph Clay was so elite,

36:30

they were so far leaps and bounds over anyone else

36:32

there wasn't even any competition. This being

36:34

not quite that version still means they're pretty

36:37

good, right, I mean, it's an incredible collection

36:39

of talent, and the fact that you have Devin

36:41

Booker at the center of it in his prime is

36:43

sort of the key factor to me. He turns twenty

36:46

seven next week. This is a guy who's already

36:48

scored seventy points at age twenty. I mean, he has

36:50

so much growth between now and then, and

36:53

he has so much more growth to go that you

36:55

can have the luxury of having KD as

36:57

your sniper who might be hurt sometimes, right.

37:00

I mean, there's matchup tonight.

37:02

There's a lot of people billing it Kati versus step

37:04

It's, you know, not really Katie's team.

37:07

It's Devin Booker's team. And Katie, by the

37:09

way, has said he's perfectly fine with that, and so is

37:11

Bradley Beal.

37:12

So ah, I like DeAndre Ayton,

37:14

but I do feel like he would

37:16

have been lost in this offense. I

37:19

liked the move to move off him. How did it play

37:21

in Phoenix? What is the sense because he's very talented.

37:23

Yeah.

37:24

Absolutely. I liked Drayden too.

37:25

I think he is going to thrive somewhere, but he wasn't

37:27

thriving there, and that's the bottom line. They tried

37:30

a bunch of different fits with him, They tried a bunch of different

37:32

strategies. They weren't happy with his growth.

37:34

He wasn't happy with how the franchise was treating

37:37

him. That was a marriage that needed to dissolve

37:39

and have the parties go elsewhere. So I think

37:41

that Phoenix got value in

37:43

making that trade, just a little bit

37:45

of subtraction, their addition by subtraction,

37:48

not because he's a bad guy, but just because

37:50

the.

37:50

Fit wasn't working. And now that bad

37:53

juju is out of the locker room.

37:54

And then you have a guy coming in Nurkic who's

37:56

one of the more chief cheerful guys in the NBA.

37:59

Yes, that's a great point. And he's also played

38:01

behind a ball center guy Dame. Yeah, and

38:04

C J McCollums. So he knows how

38:06

to be the third guy and get points.

38:07

Absolutely, so, I think that they've got a great

38:09

No, they got a lot more depth than they did right after that

38:11

KD trade when it gutted the team. I'm

38:14

a big Frank Vogel fan. I think that he

38:16

is underrated in the league in terms of being additive.

38:18

He's not a Hall of Fame coach yet, but he is obviously

38:21

someone who brings more to a team than just being a

38:23

nanny or a babysitter. And I think that's

38:25

going to provide an interesting to mention for them, especially

38:27

defensively.

38:27

He's a defensive minded coach. Y.

38:29

He has put that stamp on the Pacers when he started out,

38:32

how he won a title with the Lakers, and then

38:34

now with this team, I think they have another good shot

38:36

to be there when it counts at the end.

38:37

I don't know what in the world it's

38:39

going to look like. I am fascinated

38:42

with Chris Paul to the warrior.

38:44

Dude, I don't know what that was

38:46

A knock you over with a feather moment.

38:48

They're getting smaller, but think.

38:50

About all of the battles out here.

38:52

In California between Chris Paul's

38:55

Clippers and Steph Curry's Warriors over

38:57

the years.

38:58

How nasty it guy brutal.

39:00

The idea of those two in the same uniform, playing

39:02

on the same floor for the same team is bonkers.

39:05

I'm still not ready, but Draymond has put

39:07

his arms around him. They all have IQ

39:10

team.

39:11

Yeah, no, they know they that is such a smart

39:13

team. They understand how much chemistry

39:15

and joy is the key to their success. Steph

39:18

was going around with Chris Paul at

39:20

Summer League back in July and Las

39:22

Vegas. They have really made an effort to bring him

39:24

into the fold. It's going to be interesting. There's reports

39:26

out there that Chris Paul could start tonight. There's

39:29

been a lot of back and forth. Should he play on the bench,

39:31

should he not? Good coaches sometimes

39:34

let those superstar players who are

39:36

in the later parts of their career find

39:38

out for themselves it's time to go to the second

39:40

unit. So we saw that when Dwayne Wade went to Cleveland

39:42

and ty Lou said.

39:43

Yeah, okay, you think you're still a starter. You

39:46

start for the.

39:46

First ten or eleven games, Let's see how it goes.

39:48

And then the proof is in the pudding and it's easier

39:51

for that guy to move back to the second unit. So we'll

39:53

see if that's what happens here. Honestly, it's

39:55

about who finishes the games, not who starts

39:57

them. And I don't think we'll see Chris Paul

39:59

play as many minutes of some of the other starters

40:01

because they want to keep those minutes down for him,

40:03

so he'll see him in and out. But I think he could benefit

40:06

from the second unit there because he can run that in

40:08

his style, which is a lot different than the Steph

40:10

Curry sort of cutting running style.

40:12

So Victor wem min Yama, you know, I watch

40:14

all these internet clips and there it's sensational.

40:17

It's crazy blocking shots. So

40:21

Pop, I if I recall, signed

40:23

an extension right before

40:25

they got him or near there. And my takeaway was

40:27

because Pop wants to control the minutes in the

40:30

games.

40:30

Yeah.

40:30

So I've been a believer and I said this with

40:32

Chet Holmgren on the air that when I get

40:35

a uniquely gifted seven two seven to

40:37

three player, I'm playing you fifty eight the first

40:39

year sixty eight. You're not

40:41

going to go from international ball

40:44

to that tunnel of Cardio,

40:47

and NBA has always been a more physical league

40:50

than people that don't go to the games realize. What

40:52

are your expectations for

40:55

Victor.

40:55

I mean, he's been incredible so

40:57

far, even in the leap from where I saw him when I was

40:59

in Vegas at Summer League to the preseason,

41:02

We've seen him develop super fast, so that only

41:04

indicates he's going to be a quick learner when

41:06

he plays real NBA games. I

41:08

don't think basketball fans across the country

41:11

forget San Antonio, could have had a better

41:13

thing happen than the marriage of Greg

41:15

Popovich and Victor Webinyama.

41:17

Here is a guy who is poised to be one

41:19

of.

41:19

The biggest stars, possibly in the history

41:22

of the league over the next fifteen years.

41:24

And the fact that he is not going to be with a coach

41:26

who doesn't know what to do with him on a team that

41:28

has a bad culture or losing culture, which is

41:30

what happens a lot of time when you're drafted number one

41:32

overall. He is going to the Greg

41:34

Popovich finishing school of basketball,

41:37

and I absolutely think you're right. He's going to

41:39

monitor his minutes. Greg sees the big picture.

41:41

He knows what's ahead for Victor Webinyama.

41:44

He's already done this with Tim Duncan, He's already

41:46

done this with David Robinson. And for

41:48

Victor, he talked really openly that san

41:50

Antonio was his first choice before

41:53

they were even positioned to do well in the draft lottery,

41:55

because if you think about the history of international

41:57

players there, French players there. He revered's

42:00

Greg Papaviitch and that's another great ingredient

42:02

into a good season for him.

42:03

So I thought the Westbrook addition

42:06

to the Lakers was odd, not that Russ

42:08

won't be a Hall

42:11

of Famer, but it was a weird fit. Well,

42:13

it didn't fit, and so they move off at Darvin

42:15

Ham, who I think has been greater

42:17

than any expectation.

42:19

Totally agree.

42:20

Darvin works for the room. He's respected,

42:22

He's a grinder, terrific. Lebron

42:24

has totally bought into him and Anthony

42:26

Davis have he played through injuries last

42:29

year, played through some pain. Listen,

42:31

I know Lebron's gonna give me fifty five Anthony

42:33

Davis sixty five? Is it

42:36

realistic? One through eight nine?

42:38

Are they in the building? Do they feel

42:41

like nobody's paying attention

42:43

to us? Because everybody's like Sons, Bucks,

42:45

Celtics, Nuggets, you're.

42:46

Talking about the Lakers.

42:47

The Lakers have kind of an underdog

42:51

feel, right.

42:51

I don't know the way that Lakers are covered in the

42:53

media, could they ever be underdogs? I mean,

42:55

they are half of the national conversation a

42:58

big chunk of the time. I I

43:00

think that they are a great, deep team.

43:02

I think they absolutely have a chance to match

43:05

or even better at their performance from last season

43:07

when they made it to the Western Conference finals.

43:09

Right.

43:10

I just think, to me, you have to

43:12

give the defending champs the respect

43:14

until they show you that they're in the middle of a championship

43:17

hangover, until they show you that they've lost a step.

43:19

You have to give them a respect to say that they're the favorites

43:22

for this year because their team is largely intact.

43:24

They have one of the greatest players we've

43:26

seen in decades in Nikola Jokic. They

43:29

have Jamal Murray who could be a Number One on a

43:31

lot of other teams, great coaching, great

43:33

togetherness in that locker room. So I'm going

43:35

to always give them the benefit of the doubt until

43:37

we see otherwise. But I think the Lakers will

43:39

be right there and know Lebron James

43:41

team is an underdog.

43:42

I'm sorry it's not so Milwaukee.

43:46

I said this earlier that I feel like Dame

43:49

is a little bit with Yannis. It's

43:51

got a Lebron Wade Field. Wade was a one title

43:54

guy. Here comes Lebron. He's a three title guy. And the

43:56

conversation with d Wade is really

43:58

great player to Ike legend.

44:01

There's a lot of pressure though, in my opinion on Milwaukee.

44:04

Dame's older, smaller broken

44:06

down recently, and Jannis

44:08

wasn't sticking around if you didn't give him Dame. Usually,

44:12

I don't think of Milwaukee as pressure. I think of Boston

44:14

pressure, La pressure. I kind

44:16

of think there's pressure on Milwaukee to be good

44:19

quickly.

44:19

You know, Yannis took a whole lot of pressure

44:21

off him yesterday by signing that extension.

44:24

I mean, the idea he even came out and said just six

44:26

weeks ago, he came out and said, I am not signing

44:28

anything until next summer. And it

44:30

was financially smarter, frankly for him to wait

44:33

until next summer. And there was a feeling even after

44:35

the Dame trade that he would wait and see how it worked.

44:37

Out he didn't do that. Janis doesn't like those

44:40

questions hanging over him.

44:41

Will you resign? Won't you resign? He said

44:43

that before, and he obviously has

44:45

decided the way he wants to run his business

44:48

is you give me the tools I think

44:50

I need to win.

44:51

That's enough for me.

44:52

I don't have to win for me to resign. I

44:55

have to know I have the respect of the organization to

44:57

give me everything I'm asking for.

44:59

He signed his lif.

45:00

Last big contract just a month after Drew Holliday

45:02

came to town, and the fact that he's signing this

45:04

one just after Dame comes to town tells

45:06

you a lot about Giannis and the way he approaches

45:09

basketball and that he's in it to win it. He's

45:11

competitive, but he understands that they

45:13

have a team now that can win it, and he is

45:15

all in on that.

45:16

Yeah, Lakers to me are the deepest team

45:18

with Denver. I think Phoenix, Milwaukee

45:20

and Boston. I love their starting roster.

45:23

I'm not sure there's a ton of depth so I

45:26

And by the way, Denver was not a great bench scoring

45:28

team last year, so we sort of overvalue

45:30

benches. Yeah, do you got about six guys?

45:32

What a pat Riley six guys right.

45:34

Well, it's like seven guys deep basically,

45:37

you know, I mean the eight max during the playoffs.

45:39

So I think it's the guys that you're talking about

45:42

on the floor. Superstars win playoff games.

45:44

That's just a fact.

45:45

It's nice to have a big bench and it's nice

45:47

to have depth, and it definitely makes a difference.

45:49

But let's not kid ourselves. It's the guy at the top

45:51

of the lineup. It's the two or three guys at the top of the lineup,

45:54

and Milwukee has that.

45:55

Yep. Rachel Nichols. So glad to have

45:57

you. Twenty five years of cover in the NBA, the NFL,

46:00

six, Olympics, golf. We are very lucky

46:02

to have you. NBA season starts tonight,

46:04

Lakers in the Mile High City, Suns

46:06

that the Warriors can't wait for both. Thank

46:08

you, Thank you so making time for us.