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Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.

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Be sure to catch us live every weekday on

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This is the Best of the Herd with Colin

0:22

cowher on Fox Sports Radio.

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All Right, it is a Wednesday

0:29

live been Los Angeles.

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It's the Herd. Wherever you may be and

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however you may be listening or watching.

0:37

Thanks for making us part of your

0:39

day. Jmac. There

0:41

are a handful of NBA games

0:44

during the regular season that matter

0:47

Bucks Lakers. Last night, at least for the Lakers,

0:51

that was a showing. That

0:53

was something.

0:55

Anthony Davis Austin reeves total

0:57

package.

0:57

What e huh.

0:59

But I want to start with this. We

1:02

all have bosses, even

1:05

rich people who own companies like this

1:07

one. They have shareholders, they

1:09

have boards, got to

1:11

answer to somebody. I always

1:14

laugh when people complain about the NFL

1:16

putting games on Christmas or

1:18

Thursday night games. You do get

1:20

that. Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL,

1:22

has thirty two bosses, the

1:25

NFL owners. He is an employee

1:28

of the NFL. So the

1:30

NFL yesterday announced they're gonna play two games

1:32

on Christmas and it's on a Wednesday,

1:36

and all the complainers come out, Oh, two

1:39

games on Christmas Day Wednesday. In twenty

1:41

twenty four, there's the headline, what

1:44

would you do if you were Roger

1:46

Goodell? Would you go tell your

1:48

bosses? Yeah, it's gonna get huge

1:50

ratings, but you know, I just think it's too much.

1:54

There's a reason Roger Goodell keeps getting raises

1:56

because he keeps thumping the NBA in

1:58

baseball and pulling away from all the other sports.

2:01

Ask yourself the question, will you watch those

2:03

games? Don't?

2:04

Don't?

2:05

No, no no. Will you watch the

2:07

games? Yes you will. The

2:10

NFL put a playoff game

2:12

on a streaming service, Peacock, not

2:15

even one of the more popular ones. It

2:17

got twenty eight million views. Twenty

2:21

eight million viewers came in to watch a boring

2:24

playoff game, almost three

2:26

times the NBA Finals. It

2:28

wasn't on Netflix, it wasn't on

2:31

like Hulu, it wasn't on Amazon

2:34

Prime is on Peacock

2:36

got twenty eight million viewers. The

2:38

most streamed live event in US history.

2:42

You keep watching, and they're gonna keep

2:44

putting stuff on streaming services on

2:46

Wednesdays, Thursdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving

2:49

because you keep watching. Tech companies follow

2:51

the demand of the audience. Doesn't

2:54

matter if it's Apple, if it's Google,

2:56

they're gonna try stuff. Nobody liked the

2:58

Google glasses, so they still making

3:00

them right. That's

3:02

what tech companies do. They keep rolling stuff

3:04

out and they follow your demand. And

3:07

for the record, I will watch an

3:09

average NFL game over

3:12

it's a wonderful life any day of the week.

3:15

There is no proof we've looked at

3:17

all the numbers. Athletes

3:19

don't get hurt more on short

3:22

weeks like Thursday. They do not.

3:24

There is no elevation of injuries.

3:27

Wednesday games are going to be very

3:29

infrequent. They're only doing it because

3:31

of Christmas, and these games get huge

3:33

ratings. There's two times in America everybody's

3:35

sitting down in front of the TV not working. Thanksgiving

3:38

NFL owns it, and now Christmas,

3:40

NFL saying we're going to own it. And for

3:43

the record, I like that. The NFL, unlike

3:45

baseball, has always been willing

3:47

to move, change and adapt overtime

3:50

rules have changed multiple times. The kickoff

3:53

now this year is going to change, some

3:55

for safety measures, some just to

3:57

make the sport more interesting. Kickoffs were a dead

4:00

They're gonna mess around with punts now too often

4:02

they're spare catches. I'm okay

4:04

with it. Pat roughing the passer is

4:07

now going to be you can go to replay

4:09

and review roughing the passer because people come

4:11

playing. The NFL has always been willing to do that.

4:14

So my takeaway in this there are certain

4:16

people out there. Maybe it's a brain function by

4:18

certain people. They just want to complain about stuff.

4:21

But will you watch the game? Yes,

4:25

twenty eight million people went to Peacock

4:27

to watch a bad playoff game,

4:30

the most streamed live event in

4:33

US history. You know, there's

4:36

your answer. And the NFL,

4:38

more than every sport, is always understood

4:40

it's a TV show and it's a business, and that's

4:42

where the income comes from. That's where

4:44

the revenue comes from. So if we keep

4:46

buying their new tech, they're

4:48

gonna keep selling their new tech. So

4:51

I would ideally love if it was just

4:53

a Sunday Monday League, But I gotta be honest,

4:55

even though those games are bad, on Thursday. I'm

4:57

sitting down there on a Thursday night and I end up watching

4:59

most them as long as Carolina is not in

5:01

it. And these Wednesday Christmas games.

5:04

Last year they did Christmas games, they got massive

5:06

numbers. They they bludgeoned the NBA.

5:10

And I think the NFL also sees

5:12

an opportunity where the NBA's made

5:14

some marketing mistakes. Lebron,

5:17

steph KD getting older, they

5:19

are seizing a business opportunity

5:22

and putting games right on a day that used

5:24

to be owned by basketball.

5:27

So there's not that many regular season NBA

5:30

games that you know you

5:32

have to you feel like you get a real impact

5:34

and that make a real statement. I like watching

5:37

NBA regular season games, but I

5:39

don't think there's that many that truly matter.

5:41

But you'll get down to the stretch after the

5:44

All Star break, you get down into these games,

5:46

you watch them and you're like, that feels like it.

5:48

It sort of resonates. Last

5:50

night, the Lakers beat Milwaukee at Milwaukee

5:52

without Lebron won twenty eight one

5:55

twenty four, and I thought it

5:57

said a lot about the Lakers. Milwaukee

5:59

is a team that's got sized, doesn't know as utilize

6:02

it. They've been playing really good

6:04

borderline playoff teams ten of their last eleven

6:06

games. They look tired down the stretch, But

6:09

it said a lot about the Lakers. First of all,

6:11

Anthony Davis, we said this yesterday,

6:14

is having an amazing year and a half stretch.

6:16

Last night he played fifty two minutes. He's

6:19

already top five in the league in minutes. That's the most

6:22

he's ever played. He was absolutely dominating

6:25

challenged by Jannis. He

6:27

was twenty eight thirty four points,

6:30

twenty three rebounds, four blocks.

6:32

Ad was the best player on the floor

6:35

and Lebron didn't play, so Ad

6:37

and Austin Reeves saw that

6:39

as a green light to take over offensively.

6:42

And for the record, this once again illustrates

6:45

unlike the Warriors without staph, the

6:48

Lakers are actually six

6:50

and four without Lebron and they score

6:52

more points. Now, my theory

6:54

on that is d Lo, D'Angelo,

6:57

Russell and Lebron. I don't think Lebron

6:59

loves his gay d Loo. Last night

7:01

in the second half was money. He got

7:03

shots that he wouldn't normally get

7:06

or take with Lebron on the floor. So

7:08

when Lebron doesn't play, Austin

7:10

Reeves knows I got to be more aggressive

7:13

d Lo who I don't think O was Fitch with Lebron,

7:15

they almost traded him. He steps

7:17

up and ad realizes I'm

7:19

the leader of the team. A couple years

7:21

ago, when U ask AD, here's the baton,

7:24

be the guy, he shrank, He disappeared.

7:27

He was never healthy. Something has

7:29

happened with Anthony Davis over the last

7:31

year and a half. When Lebron's

7:33

out, he grabs that baton and

7:36

he takes over and he is dominating.

7:38

They were down nineteen late in

7:41

the fourth quarter and came roaring back

7:44

no Lebron. So they play a different style

7:46

without Lebron. And if you look right

7:48

now at the Western Conference standings, the way

7:50

they do this in the NBA with a play in game,

7:53

seven through ten will

7:56

play in playoff and now only two

7:58

will survive. And right now I would take the Lakers

8:01

over Sacramento Phoenix, or the Warriors

8:03

or an improving Houston. Again,

8:06

Milwaukee looked tired. Giannis was

8:08

two for seven in clutch, missed two key

8:10

free throws. They've had a really tough

8:12

stretch. I've got my issues with Milwaukee,

8:15

but they're gonna win a playoff series. They'll be fine. They're

8:17

not Boston, but they're fine. This game

8:19

said a lot about the Lakers. They can play

8:21

without Lebron. DeAngelo

8:25

Russell continues in the

8:27

last since December to be

8:29

a really consistent offensive

8:32

player in some clutch spots. This

8:34

is also a team that utilizes

8:36

their size. The Lakers are not going

8:38

to run up and down the floor. You can run,

8:41

you know. That's why they're probably not a great matchup

8:43

if the Celtics were at full strength. You know,

8:45

Oklahoma City runs well young teams. Lakers

8:48

don't really do that. They utilize their size.

8:50

Milwaukee takes a lot of jumpers for their size.

8:53

The Lakers free throw differential the last

8:55

two years is plus nine hundred

8:57

and eleven, so they pound

9:00

ball low. They score in the paint,

9:02

They don't take or make a ton of threes.

9:05

What they do well is experience. OKAC

9:08

doesn't have any size, Golden

9:10

State doesn't have any. So the Lakers

9:13

roared back without Lebron

9:15

on the road down big.

9:18

Their size, their experience,

9:20

and the new and improved ad

9:23

over the last year and a half were

9:25

on display. This game felt

9:27

like it was the biggest Lakers win of the season

9:30

and as a testament what they can

9:32

do, not at full strength,

9:34

They've got enough tools. Not

9:37

at full strength, they can go up

9:39

against what the number two seed in

9:41

the East, come back from nineteen

9:43

down late and win. Here's Austin and Ad

9:46

after.

9:48

It was one of those moments that you can either

9:50

you know, flip the page to tomorrow get

9:55

ready for that game, or you can, you know, go

9:57

out and compete one hundred and ten percent and give your

10:00

an opportunity. Or this is the stuff you dream about

10:02

as a kid, being on the road

10:05

with your guys, you know, battling

10:07

out of an amazing team and having

10:10

opportunities to make big shots.

10:13

That twenty point lead in

10:15

his league now is there's

10:18

nothing. Beau's a

10:20

way to offense is right now in

10:22

the league so high power that

10:25

you can wipe the league away pretty fast. So

10:28

I say it was fine, Yeah,

10:31

we line up and do it all again tomorrow.

10:34

My takeaway after this game is somebody

10:36

get Anthony Davis and IV because

10:38

they play Memphis tonight. It

10:40

is another must win game for the Lakers.

10:43

That was impressive, and again

10:45

a year and a half ago, two years ago,

10:48

Lebron was begging for Ad

10:51

to take over the team and

10:53

he just wouldn't do it. And something

10:55

has happened. I don't know what it is. Is he taking

10:57

care of his body? Did Lebron have multiple

11:00

will sit downs? But Ad last

11:02

night is on Knights like last

11:04

night, best defensive player in the league,

11:07

doesn't get hurt much anymore, playing

11:09

a ton of minutes and absolutely

11:12

is relishing and embracing the

11:15

leadership role. Get me the ball on

11:17

Bullfins. Totally dominating performance

11:20

against Yannis so j Mack.

11:22

That was something that was an impressive w in

11:25

a wildly entertaining game.

11:26

Yeah, Ad was tremendous.

11:27

Austin Reeves triple double, game winning

11:30

three this game maybe of his career.

11:32

I mean, listen you.

11:33

I know people are like, hey, can we get Donovan Mitchell

11:35

in the offseason? Can we get this guy? I'm

11:37

telling you, I'm not ready to move off Austin Reeves.

11:40

Man, he is really fun to watch. Colin

11:42

that kid. Lakers fans

11:45

love this guy.

11:45

And they create contact.

11:48

You know, everybody's always like, why do the Lakers

11:50

shoot so many free throws? Because they don't shoot

11:52

a lot of threes. So Austin Reeves

11:54

Ad Lebron initiate a ton

11:56

of contact. So teams that settled

11:59

for three's milwalk. He's big, but shoots a lot of

12:01

threes. Lakers are huge, they don't

12:03

so their free throw advance in the end. Last

12:06

night, I think they were like fifteen for fifteen

12:09

late in the game in free throw. So the Lakers get

12:11

to the line. Not all Laker teams get to the line.

12:13

You know, when the Warriors were dominating this league

12:15

and doing small ball, they weren't getting to the

12:18

line as much because it

12:20

was very perimeter dominated. This Laker

12:22

team can't win that way. They have to pound

12:24

the ball. And it's not like they they

12:27

always shoot well from the free

12:29

throw line. They don't necessarily rebound

12:31

as well for their size, but offensively, they

12:33

create contact, they hit their free

12:35

throws, they get to the line, and it's it's

12:37

a pretty clear advantage.

12:39

By the way.

12:39

Lakers will probably be playing on Christmas Day again

12:42

this year, like every year.

12:43

I'm just curious. Do you have two televisions

12:45

in your house?

12:46

Yes?

12:46

You do.

12:47

Do you have remote controls for the TVs?

12:48

Yes?

12:48

Do they work?

12:49

Yeah?

12:49

Okay, so it's not an issue. Christmas Day.

12:51

You can watch it all NFL.

12:53

And NBA, R well, also, I have

12:55

Fubo, so it's this

12:58

idy. People like to grumble but

13:00

you don't have an iPad. I mean, do

13:02

you have an iPhone? Fubo's twenty

13:05

bucks a month. I'm watching.

13:07

I'm on a plane watching March Madness

13:09

games, flying home on site.

13:10

It's not like there aren't a million commercials during

13:12

all sporting events.

13:13

I mean, NCAA tournament's kind of brutal.

13:15

It feels like there's a tournament every two minutes, commercial

13:17

every two minutes. Yeah, I gotta watch another game on

13:19

my phone.

13:20

Like I have a remote like some you know.

13:22

Listen, will you watch Christmas Day NFL

13:24

game. They're gonna

13:26

put Josh Allen on one of those games. They

13:29

may not put the Chiefs, but they'll put like Lamar, Josh

13:31

Allen, Joe Burrow, Matt Stafford.

13:34

You will watch them.

13:35

Wasn't it Aaron Rodgers versus the Dolphins

13:37

Last Last or no, sorry, Jordan Love versus

13:40

the Dolphins?

13:40

Somebody versus Miami was a great game.

13:42

And two A vomited all over himself and I want some money,

13:44

and you know that's all the Christmas.

13:46

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays.

13:49

In noon eastern nine am Pacific on

13:51

Fox Sports Radio FS one and

13:53

the iHeartRadio app.

13:55

So, when is a take not a hot

13:57

take? Even though it sort of sounds like it's

13:59

luke warm and boiling here, it

14:01

is. I would move off Dak Prescott

14:05

after this next season. The

14:07

Packers moved off Aaron Rodgers, you

14:10

can move off Dak Prescott. They'll take a

14:12

cap hit in twenty twenty five. Teams

14:15

have cap hits all the time. You hit on four

14:17

or five draft picks, you get around

14:19

it pretty quickly. I mean, look what Denver just did

14:21

with Russell Wilson. You figure it out. You

14:23

draft a quarterback second,

14:25

third round, pops boom, You're fine.

14:28

Dak Prescott himself was a fourth round pick.

14:31

There is one thing that guarantees you

14:33

will never win a super Bowl in modern day

14:36

football, that you have a good quarterback

14:38

and he's paid like a great one.

14:41

Dallas is not a viable super Bowl team

14:44

either was Tennessee with Ryan Tannehill,

14:46

who was a good quarterback paid like a great

14:49

one. Minnesota just made

14:51

this decision to move off Kirk Cousins,

14:53

who is absolutely Dak

14:56

statistically, and so

14:59

Jerry Joe owns to his credit, is

15:01

not going to sign him early, is

15:03

going to let it play out. And my

15:06

takeaway is I would draft a quarterback

15:08

somewhere this year, second third,

15:10

fourth round. If Michael Penix falls, I'd

15:12

grab him. This is not a shot

15:15

at Dak Prescott. The Rams

15:18

moved off Jared Goff because he was

15:20

a pretty good quarterback being paid

15:22

a ton of money, and

15:25

he'd been to a Super Bowl. He

15:27

throws a much nicer ball than Dak.

15:29

He was a number one pick. Look

15:32

around the league. You can't win a Super

15:34

Bowl if you're pretty good at quarterback

15:36

and really expensive. Breeze

15:40

in Denver, Manning Brady

15:44

Maholmes now either taking pay cutch

15:46

or constantly reworking

15:48

their deal to be team friendly. Dak

15:52

was a steal his first couple of years in the

15:54

league. He's been a little

15:56

bit, a little bit of

15:59

a lead way in the last couple They

16:01

couldn't make any moves during this free agency

16:04

period and they had needs. Jerry

16:07

Jones at the league meetings acknowledging

16:10

they're not going to sign Dak

16:12

right now. They're going to let it play out.

16:15

We are where we are, we have our contract.

16:18

We're locked and loaded. For this year,

16:20

and we can see

16:22

as we move along how

16:25

we are thinking. We inclusive

16:28

of everybody, us Dad, and

16:30

we'll see what we do. I don't have anything

16:32

to report today.

16:34

Yeah, I mean Dak is a two to five

16:37

playoff quarterback, and in seven playoff

16:39

games he's had one great one against

16:42

the eight and nine Tampa Bay

16:44

Buccaneers. He has

16:46

made a living off awful teams,

16:48

of which Washington of the Giants, for most

16:51

of his career, have both

16:53

been awful. He is forty

16:55

eight and twelve against teams under five

16:57

hundred, and again he's had two bad ones in his

16:59

division. He is way below five

17:02

hundred against winning teams. So

17:04

that's the difference between the Mahomes and Allen

17:07

A Lamar, a Brady, A Manning, a

17:09

Breeze, the great ones. Can you

17:11

beat the good teams? Good

17:14

quarterbacks beat bad ones.

17:16

If you look at Dak's career numbers regular

17:19

season in playoffs, it is very

17:21

clear when he faces top

17:23

competition he is me

17:25

d Oker. You may

17:28

take a cap hit in twenty twenty five moving

17:30

off him. This isn't anti Dak. I think

17:32

he fits like Kirk Cousins

17:34

fits in Atlanta. I think Dak in New

17:36

England. An adult in the room

17:39

is a really good move. I think there's an

17:41

argument to be made New England trades

17:43

there pick down solves

17:45

a lot of their offensive speed limitations

17:48

and then goes and gets Dak. Next year

17:50

is they'll have another top pick in

17:52

the top five. But the idea

17:55

that Dallas owes him or Dallas

17:58

Dak's been overpaid if you're paying quarterbacks

18:00

based on January and February,

18:03

Dak was a steel early he

18:06

is now. I mean, if you paid for

18:08

a pretty good house but you paid a great price,

18:11

you'd feel ripped off. If you paid

18:13

for a pretty good car but you paid

18:16

a more expensive price, you wouldn't

18:18

feel like you're getting value. You

18:20

start looking at Dak's playoff performances

18:23

and records against good teams, You're

18:26

not getting great value anymore.

18:28

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd

18:30

weekdays and noon Easter not a im pacific.

18:33

I was thinking about this. So we had Mark

18:35

Few on the show yesterday and he's

18:38

been to nine straight Sweet

18:42

sixteens, and there's

18:44

this real pushback. He

18:47

plays Purdue this week. Gonzaga plays Purdue.

18:49

I think produce the better team and they played earlier

18:51

in Maui Purdue one, and Purdue's got

18:53

Zaki. He the seven to four kid, and he's just for

18:55

a college player, he's a dominant college

18:58

player. But there's been a lot of pushback

19:01

because the people that cover

19:03

the NBA and the draft

19:05

people have said Zach Eady just

19:08

does not work in the NBA.

19:11

That doesn't mean, like Tim Tebow, you can't

19:14

be a remarkable college player.

19:16

And here is Mark Few on Zach Edy

19:18

in the matchup yesterday.

19:21

You know, twenty five years, I've been ahead coach

19:23

here, I've never dealt with a

19:26

player or an entity like him.

19:28

He is a really, really, really good basketball

19:31

player, and he does

19:33

everything well. I mean, he posts the right

19:36

way you can score as

19:39

ball goes in now, very

19:41

efficient, and he

19:43

shoots free throws really well. And then

19:45

at the other end, he's just you know, for a

19:48

team that likes to shoot, we're very effective in the

19:50

paint and shoot a lot of twos. I mean, it's it's

19:52

tough to get shots off in the

19:54

paint. And so he's

19:56

just again an entity that quite

19:59

frankly, I mean you just I haven't seen

20:01

in twenty five years.

20:03

Here's the way I would explain it. In the seventies,

20:06

eighties, nineties, and even

20:08

to some degree in the early two thousands,

20:10

college football offenses did

20:13

not look like the NFL. I mean, you go

20:15

back to Nebraska in the seventies and eighties and

20:17

Tom Osborne. They were doing single receiver

20:20

sets, like one receiver out left.

20:23

And that's why Tommy Fraser a quarterback

20:26

for maybe the best college

20:28

quarterback I've ever seen in terms of production, Tommy

20:30

Fraser. I watched them live in the National Championship

20:33

game against Florida. You couldn't stop him.

20:36

He didn't get drafted. I don't believe he got drafted.

20:38

There were quarterbacks in college that would be great didn't

20:40

even get drafted. Today,

20:42

college football offenses look a

20:44

lot like NFL offenses, So if

20:46

you put up big numbers, you're going to get drafted. But

20:49

college basketball in the NBA don't

20:51

look anything like each other.

20:53

First of all, if you're any good, you either don't go

20:56

to college or you stay there for a few weeks, a

20:58

few months, a semester, and then you're gone.

21:01

But the NBA is about speed and

21:03

athleticism and spacing and

21:05

threes. It is managed by

21:07

coaches. College basketball

21:10

is dominated by coaches. It's

21:12

plotting, its half court sets.

21:15

It's very much a coach's

21:17

game. Zach Edy

21:20

is great in that environment. It's

21:22

like Tim Tebow. He's great in an environment

21:25

where he plays with superior talent. He

21:27

can do lollipop throws over college

21:31

DB's and hit on his great receiving

21:33

crew at Florida. But the windows

21:36

closed in the NFL and he didn't

21:38

have the mechanics or the arm strength

21:40

to get those balls, squeeze those

21:42

balls in there. Zach Edie,

21:44

to me, probably gets drafted late second

21:47

round, but he's more of a college player.

21:49

He is a back to the basket

21:52

center, and the NBA

21:54

has bailed on that for about eight to

21:56

ten years. It is a

21:59

player's lead league, spacing,

22:01

speed, athleticism, up and

22:03

down the floor. I'm not sure

22:06

latterly who Zach Edie could defend.

22:09

I just people are getting worked up like

22:11

they're deeply discouraged. But my entire

22:13

life, I've watched great college

22:16

football players just not work.

22:18

They're part of a system for years and years. You

22:21

know, byu Ty Dettner would

22:23

put up profound numbers and

22:25

feel a little overwhelmed in the NFL.

22:27

Now Steve Young work, Jim McMahon had worked

22:30

out of BYU. But a lot of times you'll

22:32

get these very collegiate looking offenses

22:34

in college basketball or football. They just

22:36

don't work at the pro level. It's not

22:38

a knock on the kid, you know, he looks

22:41

like a backup in the NBA. To me, he

22:43

can swat a few shots. I mean, the NBA

22:45

is getting bigger. There is no question

22:48

the small ball era was overrated. It was

22:50

basically the Warriors and everybody else. Now

22:52

the NBA over the last four or five years has really

22:54

pivoted to size. So there may be a spot

22:56

for him, But this is explainable and

23:00

college basketball looked more similar

23:02

twenty years ago when Patrick Ewing

23:04

would stay in college basketball for three

23:06

or four years. Well, Patrick Ewing

23:08

as a college player was better than half the NBA

23:11

centers his junior year at college.

23:13

Same with Tim Duncan, Christian

23:15

Latner, Shack. You'd stay in college

23:18

so you would watch a college basketball

23:20

game in nineteen eighty five and

23:22

they couldn't beat an NBA team, but they'd

23:24

have four NBA guys on the floor that would

23:27

all go into the Association and within

23:29

a year or two were productive. That's

23:31

just not the way it is. Even the best college

23:33

players now they go into the NBA

23:35

and they make almost no

23:38

impact, almost none right

23:40

out of the gate.

23:41

Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd

23:43

Weekdays and noon Easter not a Empacific.

23:46

Hey gang, this is Jay Glazer, host of

23:49

Unbreakable, a Mental Wealth

23:51

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23:53

we will have on leader from sports

23:56

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23:59

Vaughn, Michael Else, David Spade,

24:01

Got Fiemi, and also those who can help

24:03

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24:05

to someone.

24:06

Like Ed Milette for John Gordon.

24:07

We've all been through some sort of adversity

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24:10

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24:12

Listen to Unbreakable with Jay Glazer

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24:23

So the Chargers, Jim Harbaugh

24:25

his willingness to embrace his

24:28

personality and put it out there. When he's

24:30

drinking a big glass of milk with a steak as

24:32

always something I'm fond of, he really

24:35

leans into Jim Harbaugh and he turns

24:37

teams around immediately. It's very Bill

24:39

Parcells. It's not that the team gets better.

24:42

They get better in camp, better in

24:44

preseason, and better immediately.

24:47

And Harbaugh's at the league meetings.

24:49

He's been living out of an RV

24:52

as the Chargers build a new facility,

24:55

and he talked about it.

24:57

It's been great, you know, I mean be

24:59

and myself, you know, like I always wanted

25:01

to do that. It worked out great.

25:04

I'm one hundred feet from Greg Roman.

25:07

He's got a better art Zero's

25:10

got a really really good RV.

25:14

In the RV world. Well, I'm not as fancy.

25:17

I'm not as fancy. You know, my my Thord

25:19

motor coach.

25:20

You know, it hits me just right.

25:22

So Harbaugh says, he goes into

25:25

his motor coach, he goes to the back and

25:27

he sits, and it gives him time to

25:29

think.

25:30

Uh.

25:30

And that's why I you know, I that's why

25:33

I think he has come up. I can see

25:35

Harbaugh laying down, arms crossed, thinking

25:37

about how do I get more picks?

25:39

Right now? The Chargers have nine. They'd love

25:42

to get about eleven or twelve because they've

25:44

got some real needs like center,

25:46

another corner, two receivers,

25:49

a tight end. They want as many picks

25:51

as they can get, and that's why

25:53

he keeps saying, oh JJ McCarthy

25:55

is unbelievable. He wants all

25:57

these teams moving up and taking core and

26:00

the Chargers have the number five pick. So

26:03

he is the modern day Parcels

26:06

where it it. He

26:08

just makes teams better very quickly. It's

26:10

not play calling, which has always been overrated.

26:12

It's culture. It's not scheme.

26:15

It's toughness. People forget

26:17

how bad the forty nine ers were. It was one of

26:19

their longest streaks of ineptitude.

26:21

They had not made the playoffs in eight

26:24

years. They'd not had a winning

26:26

season in eight years. Harbaugh got

26:28

there immediately thirteen and three

26:30

and in the NFC Championship. That

26:33

is one of the great turnarounds in the history

26:35

of the league. When he went to Michigan,

26:38

Michigan was a mess. They

26:40

were five and seven and inept

26:43

offensively. They lost the previous

26:45

year thirty one nothing

26:47

to Notre Dame. They couldn't score a

26:49

point against

26:52

Notre Dame. And at that time, I don't

26:55

believe Notre Dame was great. Good,

26:57

not great. The next year they were ten

26:59

three at Michigan. I went to his first game that

27:02

was against Utah. But a lot of

27:04

teams in the NFL. This is Dallas right

27:06

now, and it's Minnesota. That's why they moved off Kirk

27:08

Cousins. A lot of teams in the NFL get stuck,

27:11

and he never does. Harbaugh

27:13

doesn't really have gears. He's in perpetual

27:16

motion. He starts hot and

27:18

keeps going. People do have no idea

27:20

how bad Stanford was when he got

27:22

there. They were the worst college football team Division

27:24

one. They were awful, awful

27:27

San Francisco, awful, Michigan in

27:29

net for Michigan to go five and seven and

27:31

get blown out repeatedly, and at that time

27:34

a very average Big ten. Michigan

27:36

was bad ten and three the next year.

27:39

So it's a little Steve Jobs. It's

27:41

not that Steve Jobs doesn't immediately

27:43

innovate, but there are no gears with Steve Jobs.

27:45

It's just ascension. It's just keep moving

27:47

up. And I think it's pretty remarkable what he's

27:50

done. I think Harbaugh's got a plan.

27:52

It's never been about play calling in scheme.

27:55

It's about culture and toughness and

27:57

resilient and he's got it going in motion. You

28:00

know the other thing about Harbaugh is

28:02

that he is such a unique

28:05

personality that when

28:07

people are different or unique, remember with that

28:09

hard backslap to Jim Schwartz. I

28:11

don't think Jim's quite that anymore. But I

28:13

can remember talking to people at Ohio State when

28:15

Harbaugh got there, and he couldn't beat Michigan State.

28:17

At Ohio State, just like Brian Kelly

28:20

initially at Notre Dame could win, but he couldn't

28:22

beat the Bamas or George's or even

28:24

be competitive. I think it takes a

28:26

long time in northern climates in

28:28

college football to rebuild a program. It's easier

28:30

in warm weather. There's more Division one athletes,

28:33

you can train outside year round. I mean

28:35

Florida, Georgia, Texas, California.

28:38

It's just a conveyor belt of speed and great

28:40

athletes. You don't have as many in northern

28:42

climates.

28:43

So it took.

28:43

Harbaugh a while to get it done. But I

28:45

think the Chargers are If they can

28:48

trade down and get up to eleven

28:50

or twelve picks, I think they'll be great next

28:52

year. They got to get a center, a receiver,

28:55

a tight end, an interior defensive

28:57

lineman, and nobody knows

28:59

these college kids for the next couple of years. Quite

29:01

like Harbossel, I don't think. I don't consider

29:03

it to rebuild. If you have your quarterback,

29:06

a left tackle, and two pass

29:08

rushers, it is not a rebuild

29:11

because those are four of the top five things you

29:13

need. They got the quarterback, the left tackle, and two edge

29:15

rushers. They could use another

29:17

corner, they need a center, but

29:20

a lot of the stuff they have. They

29:22

now got a great coach, a great quarterback, great

29:24

left tackle, excellent pass rushers. You

29:27

can find receivers and tight ends in this

29:29

league. You can find them. Patriots

29:31

had a twenty year dynasty, had one world class

29:33

receiver one the Chiefs

29:36

moved off Tyreek Hill. You can find

29:38

receivers in this league. You get about fifteen

29:41

a year out of college that make immediate impacts.

29:43

Go look at the Houston Texans last year getting

29:46

mid round wide receivers come in ready

29:48

to play. Those kids are now playing at seven on

29:50

seven camps when they're fourteen, fifteen, sixteen.

29:53

College receivers come in much

29:55

more polished and ready to play than twenty

29:57

years ago. Chargers ten win

29:59

team up or down on that, I

30:04

think that's about ten and seven. Half

30:07

to ten is where I would bet the over on

30:09

nine and a half. I think they're a ten and seventeen.

30:11

I think the Raiders and the Broncos are

30:13

just not ready to compete at that level yet. I just

30:15

don't think they have the personnel of the quarterback.

30:18

Be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays

30:20

and noone Easter, not a em Pacific.

30:22

Well, I've been talking about this today. Two years

30:25

ago, I would have moved off Anthony Davis and I

30:27

don't know, maybe he started drinking green

30:29

smoothies, more sit ups.

30:31

I don't know what it is. But for the last year and a half

30:33

he's been the best defensive big in the league. Last

30:35

night may have been one of his great games ever. Fifty

30:38

two minutes. He's already now top five

30:40

in minutes, and I do believe he

30:42

is the most consistently talented player

30:44

on the Lakers, not Lebron James. Chris

30:47

Brussard joins us live Drew

30:50

about two years ago. Three years ago, they

30:52

tried to hand him the baton and he came

30:54

into camp out of shape and for

30:57

about a year as done with him.

31:00

Something's happened, But they're sixtion four

31:02

without Lebron Dlo

31:04

actually gets I think fits better with Ad

31:07

than with Lebron. To

31:09

me, it feels like AD's team on

31:11

most nights, does it?

31:13

To you?

31:15

Ad just doesn't really have the personality

31:18

to take over the team. You know, he's got

31:20

the ability, as you said, I mean last night

31:22

he's playing on the floor with Giannis.

31:25

And AD was the best player.

31:27

Yes, I mean they have seven offensive rebounds

31:29

against Milwaukee. They're a

31:31

great team, obviously, and they're huge,

31:34

and he still was dominated on the backboards

31:36

obviously, So I just don't

31:38

think night in night out though, Ad

31:41

has that personality to take over

31:43

the team like that. But to the point

31:45

you were making Colin about

31:48

d Low and maybe others fitting

31:50

better around Ad than Lebron, here's

31:52

what it is. I think that these players,

31:55

because of how great Lebron is and

31:57

who he is in the league, his stature,

32:00

I think there's a tendency to defer

32:03

to him when he's on the court, when he's

32:05

playing, there's a tendency to defer

32:07

a little too much or look a little

32:09

too much for him, and then you

32:11

don't play as well. What's turned D'Angelo

32:14

Russell around over the second half of the

32:16

season was him finally saying

32:18

in Ad and Lebron pushing him. Look,

32:20

I'm just gonna play my game. I'm not gonna

32:22

worry about Oh, Lebron's the first option, AD,

32:25

second option, I'm third or fourth. I'm

32:27

just going to be me and be aggressive.

32:29

And now all of a.

32:30

Sudden, he's playing the best basketball

32:32

in years that he's played, maybe of

32:34

his career. And I think you saw

32:37

that in Austin Reeves last night, who was

32:39

great. And so I think they when

32:41

Lebron's there, they just

32:44

they can play five player basketball

32:46

like they can play the type of offense where everybody's

32:48

getting touches, everybody has the freedom

32:51

to create. And obviously Lebron's

32:53

gonna do his thing. He's gonna get you twenty five

32:55

points regardless. So you

32:57

don't have to always run stuff for him,

33:00

run stuff through him. Let these other

33:02

guys you know, do their thing too, and

33:04

that makes you more dangerous as a team.

33:07

So the Warriors won last night. Miami

33:09

rested some of their stars. I

33:12

thought about a month ago, I thought they're

33:14

really bridging the gap old guys,

33:16

new guys, but they're again inconsistent.

33:20

I don't I mean, I don't know

33:23

what you do. I think they're gonna move off Klay

33:25

Thompson probably, even though he's had some really

33:27

good nights off the bench last night, starting lineup?

33:30

Where are you on the Warriors going

33:32

forward? Do you They don't match

33:34

up with denver So and I don't even know if they match

33:36

up with the Lakers size. They're not gonna beat

33:39

Boston. They're not a championship team. Are

33:41

you in the blow up phase? What do you do

33:43

with them going forward?

33:46

Yeah?

33:46

I mean people are reluctant, and I get

33:48

it. I guess we've always been that way.

33:50

When a superstar, top ten

33:53

fifteen player of all time is still

33:55

around, people are reluctant

33:57

to say it's over.

33:59

Well, I'm not, it's over. The

34:01

dynasty is done, all right.

34:04

I mean, they're not gonna beat the Lakers if

34:06

they meet the Lakers and the play because the Lakers

34:08

size does give them problems.

34:10

And I don't think.

34:11

Look, could they spoil a

34:13

better team's you know, or a team

34:15

that thinks it's got a nice postseason running

34:18

it? Sure they could upset somebody,

34:20

but they have no chance.

34:22

Of winning the West.

34:23

I don't even think they make a deep playoff

34:25

round run. I don't think they make it to the second round.

34:29

If that so it's

34:31

over. I think they need this offseason.

34:33

They gotta move off Chris Paul. They got

34:35

to move off Clay. Look, he's

34:37

a legendary, he's gonna be a Hall of Famer's one of

34:39

their best players ever. But we've

34:42

seen teams that keep a player

34:44

around just because of what he's done.

34:46

It doesn't end up well.

34:48

And so I think they gotta if they want

34:50

to have a chance to try to rebuild this

34:52

thing on the fly around

34:55

Steph, they're gonna have to make those two

34:57

tough decisions.

34:58

Clay obviously much tough CB.

35:00

Three, and then I think

35:02

you got Stephen kaminga as

35:05

kind of your guys going forward,

35:07

and you just try to build around them. So

35:09

but yeah, the dynasty as we knew

35:12

it is dead period.

35:13

So I gave Milwaukee a little bit

35:15

of a pass last night. First of all, they

35:17

blew a big lead. That is the

35:20

NBA in twenty twenty four at fifteen

35:22

point eighteen point leads me nothing. Too many good

35:24

players, too many good shooters. The second thing

35:26

is they've been on a stretch here for about two

35:28

and a half three weeks. They're playing good teams, they

35:31

look tighed down the stretch. They couldn't get stops.

35:34

But I do think if

35:36

they face Boston and

35:38

Boston just shreds them, and I

35:40

think Boston matches

35:42

up very well with Milwaukee. I

35:45

do think Dame was a bit of a hail

35:47

Mary. My takeaway

35:49

is Milwaukee either

35:51

has to get to the conference finals and

35:55

give Boston a real battle

35:58

or if they get vanquished, if they get run over

36:00

by Boston, I think Giannis,

36:03

if you listen to his language the last two

36:05

years, he's been westernized,

36:08

he wants to win.

36:09

Now.

36:10

I mean, by the way, I'm not knocking it, but a lot

36:12

of times international players come in, they're

36:15

loyal, they play nice. He's

36:17

over that. He'll fire a coach. Now, what

36:20

happens if Milwaukee gets rolled

36:22

by Boston, and I think they would, where

36:25

does Giannis go?

36:26

Does he stay? Is he satisfied? Well?

36:29

I think, Look, they're a few things.

36:31

Number one, they got

36:33

to get to the conference finals, and even that's

36:35

not good enough.

36:36

Let's face it.

36:36

When they made that trade for Dame, it was championship

36:39

or bust okay, and that's

36:42

what it should be for this team. They gotta win

36:44

a championship, not just get there. They've

36:46

won one already without Dame, so that

36:49

is the charge. But looking

36:51

at the way they've played this season, obviously

36:53

they've had a coaching change. They don't

36:55

have the athleticism and the depth

36:58

that you might want them to have.

37:00

At the very least, they have to get

37:02

to the conference finals.

37:03

And as you said, if they play Boston,

37:05

well, I actually think it would be a good series.

37:08

I'm picking Boston to win the East, but

37:10

I think my Milwaukee would give them

37:12

some challenges in that conference

37:14

final. If they do that, then

37:16

you say, Okay, we got our building blocks

37:19

of Giannis and Dame, let's just add

37:21

around him. They needs some wing, athleticism, defenders,

37:23

things like that. But I think they would

37:26

go in the next year like this is it. This

37:28

is the one year we've got to get it done,

37:30

because they can make excuses Doc. You

37:32

know, Doc will have some excuses, you know,

37:34

if he just came in midway through the season

37:36

and all that.

37:38

As far as Yiannis, I

37:40

think he would. I think he'd be.

37:41

There next year, Colin, if they don't win it this year.

37:44

But I do agree with you, and here's I

37:46

agree. That's a great comment you make

37:48

about him.

37:49

Being a bit.

37:49

Westernized, right, But

37:52

also Janni's is the caliber

37:54

of player where he's

37:57

going to really be criticized

38:00

and his stature will be taken down

38:03

if he does not win.

38:05

They're only a handful of players like that, all

38:07

right.

38:07

Lebron was in that class, Kevin

38:10

Durant was in that class, and we saw.

38:11

What they did.

38:12

They moved around so they could win. Dame

38:15

is not really in that class. Most

38:17

smaller guards than players aren't in

38:19

that class. But if Yannis

38:22

doesn't win another championship, people

38:24

are gonna really be taking knocks at his legacy.

38:27

And he understands that, as you say it,

38:29

being westernized now, So I do

38:32

think he'll start He'll be looking around

38:34

and I don't think it would happen next year.

38:37

But if they don't win it this year or next

38:39

year, didn't, yeah, I think he definitely could be more

38:41

on the move.

38:42

So zach Edie seven to four

38:44

good closer, very back to

38:46

the basket. It works at purduing

38:48

college basketball, but college basketball

38:51

fans get worked up if you suggest

38:53

that dude, he can't play in the league. He

38:56

doesn't move great laterally, and the NBA is

38:58

a spacing speed league. When

39:01

you've talked to anybody about Zach Edy. Is he

39:03

just not an NBA player at all?

39:07

Look, I think he's on a roster.

39:08

You know, some people are saying late

39:11

first round or mid first round pick. I

39:13

think late first round at best, maybe

39:16

a second round pick.

39:17

I think he'll be on a roster.

39:19

But you said it, he can't move

39:21

well enough in today's NBA.

39:23

It's just as simple as that.

39:24

He will get exploited to the if

39:27

degree on defense. And

39:29

I know he'll block some shots when he's got

39:31

a chance, get a few rebounds.

39:34

But teams, you know, if you got a big

39:36

that can shoot, I mean, teams are just gonna

39:38

have a field day with him defensively.

39:40

So that's the problem.

39:42

So I don't think he has any type of NBA career

39:45

of substance. But I do think

39:47

he gets on a roster and stays in

39:49

the league for a little while.

39:50

Yeah, he's such

39:52

a dominant college player. It's

39:54

just but I was talking about it earlier. T Bow was

39:56

a dominant college player in football. Sometimes

39:59

sports are different, different, different stylistically,

40:01

it doesn't work. Chris brewce SORRD. He's

40:03

on after us First things, first cond Sinding Brew

40:07

You too, Colin