NFL Draft With Peter Schrager, NBA Playoffs With Alex Caruso, The Wolves Dismantle The Suns And Philly Is Dead

Hey, Pardon My Take listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.
The last thing you want to hear when you need your auto insurance most is a robot with countless irrelevant menu options. Which is why with USAA Auto Insurance, you'll get great service that is easy and reliable all at the touch of a button.
Get a quote today. Restrictions apply.
US today's part of my take, we have a twofer for the people. Great sports weekend.
We have our good friend Peter Schrager on the show to break down the 2024 NFL draft. Winners, losers, stories from Detroit.
We also have our good friend Alex Caruso in studio. I know we had him on three weeks ago, but this time we have him on talking NBA playoff basketball.
He gives us some great insight into how these series are going, tells us how we're stupid. Well, he didn't say we're stupid, but we felt stupid with some of the things he told us and taught us about basketball.
We're going to talk some NBA playoffs. We're going to recap the draft.
We got who's back of the week. It's going to be a great Monday show for everyone and guess what? It's Kentucky Derby week.
Are you ready for the greatest two minutes in sports? Saddle up with DK Horse an official DraftKings affiliate. Right now new customers who download the DK Horse app can get a 100% deposit bonus up to $250.
Just deposit $25 or more and complete the playthrough requirement. Wager on your favorite horses, then watch the races at Churchill Downs live right in the app.
DraftKings has you covered with a one-stop shop for all things horse racing. We will have Randy Moss on for Friday.
He's going to give us some winners. Go take those, and let's go to the DraftKings horse app.
So let's go check it out. Great week.
Triple crown starting. Spring is here.
Download the DK horse now to join the Run for the Roses action. New customers get a 100% deposit bonus, up to $250 when they opt in with the code TAKEONLY on the DK Horse app.

Go check it out now on the DK Horse app.

It is a great sports week ahead of us withace is available. Eligibility restrictions apply.
Void where prohibited. One

per new customer. Match calculated on first deposit up to a maximum of $250.
Deposit requires

two times playthrough of settled wagers within 168 hours. Bonus released in $25 increments.

Deposit and eligibility restrictions apply. Terms at dkhorse.com.
Okay, let's go. It's part of my take presented by Marshall Sports.
Welcome to part of my Take presented by Barstool Sports. and $50 when they opt in with code TAKE only on the DK Horse app.
Today is Monday, April 29th, and the city of Philadelphia is dead. Is Philadelphia a bad sports town? It's time to have the conversation.
These are the questions. I know that Max was hoping we didn't do this to start, but I would say it's the biggest story.
We're going to talk about the draft. We're going to recap the draft.
We're going to talk about every NBA and NHL playoff series. But the big story was on Sunday afternoon, the New York Knicks took a commanding 3-1 lead behind a brilliant performance from Jalen Brunson.
And the city of Philadelphia was completely cucked by New York Knicks fans who were so loud. Very loud.
So loud. Very loud.
They were cheering for Sixers missed free throws. Yeah.
They were cheering every time the Knicks made a shot. I guess we can talk about it a lot, but I feel like we should go to our Philly sports guy to get his perspective on it.
Hank, what did you think about the Knicks showing up in the building more than the Sixers fans did? Yeah, I mean, the Knicks are a passionate sports town, passionate group of people.

They showed up and they made their voices known.

See, they put the jersey on a willed statue.

Yeah, covered the whole thing up.

Couldn't see it anymore.

Yeah, I mean, that's usually something that, you know,

and if it's a good sports town, it's a good sports town,

that comes to blows or people fight back or, you know,

the Knicks fans aren't even able to get in

because it's a home game for Philly.

Defend the statue, yeah. Yeah, and Brunson was awesome he was awesome they were just diving all over the place Josh Hart had a hilarious stat line he had 45 minutes he had uh four points I believe on four free throws yep and 17 rebounds 17 rebounds all hustle from like the Knicks supporting cast out-rebounded the hell out of the Sixers that fourth quarter.
This series is awesome because it does feel old-school basketball vibes where it's kind of a fist fight on a basketball court. But, yeah, the Knicks had 15 offensive rebounds to Sixers' nine.
They wanted it more. There were a few possessions where they were getting third, fourth looks, and it felt like there was nothing that you could do.
Hank, I have a follow-up question for you. As a big Philly sports fan, when Embiid had that wide-open look at the end of the game, and he decided not to take the shot and then dribbled towards the basket, did that give you flashbacks? Did that give you flashbacks? Excuse me, you said he didn't take the shot.
Did he end up taking the shot in that possession? He drove clumsily to the hole and did not dunk it. Did he take the shot? You said he didn't take the shot.
No, he did not take the shot, the wide open shot that he had. Who took the shot in that possession? He did not take the wide open shot that he had.
Hank. But as a Philly sportsman, did that give you flashbacks of Ben Simmons and rim protector Trey Young? Yeah, I mean, this team needs a major shakeup.
There's a lot of big changes happening to the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason.

What about the fact that Embiid, who has played great in this series,

even though he continues stepping on people, throwing shoulders into people's faces.

Not great at boxing out either.

Not great at boxing out.

He has Bell's palsy, guys.

He scored one point in the fourth quarter.

Kind of ran out of gas.

Yeah.

And it's tough when you, every year, run out of i made a glass and i made a glass so um what about at the end of the very end of the game kyle lowry taking those foul shots misses a shot intentionally but didn't communicate to his teammates that he was going to try to miss intentionally to get a rebound yeah i mean that i feel like that might be coaching you know at the end game one, they decided not to foul when it was still reasonable that they could have made a comeback. Again, these end-of-game situations, you think that they're things that you go over and practice, and it's just you don't even have to communicate because you know you've run end-of-game situations if we're down by this many, this time on the clock, you missed the free throw, this is what we're doing.
That's not something a player should have to say. That's something that the coaches

should have communicated, you know,

throughout the whole year, the playoffs, you coach

for these exact situations. That's true.

Fair point. So for your team to not be on the same page,

how does that happen? Are they

dead? Are they done? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

They could fire the coach because he's been there for a long

time. Has he?

Oh, wait. No.
No. Nick Nurse just got

there. Shit.
Damn. Tobias harris is gonna be gone that's that's the big fix that's a good spin zone tobias harris is going on uh max did you watch the game at all uh yeah i happened to turn it on yeah and what were your thoughts your nova guys i mean jalen brunson was incredible yeah brunson he's so good he had 47 points on 34 He's been great all series.
Wait, wait, Jalen Brunson was incredible. He's so good.

He had 47 points on 34 shots.

He's been great all series. Wait, why did you include

the 34 shots in there? Because if Joel Embiid

did that, that's the only thing that people would be talking about.

Wait, but he shot the ball 34

times. Did he shoot above

or below 50% from the field?

I think it was barely above

50%.

Joel Embiid is

scoring 35 points a game, 45%

from the field, and a plus

Thank you. I think it was barely above 50%.
Barely above. It was above 50%, yeah.
Joel Embiid is scoring 35 points a game, 45% from the field, and a plus 34 when he's on the court. Jalen Brunson is scoring 33 points a game, 40% from the field, and is a minus three when he's on the court.
And the difference that the people are talking about Jalen Brunson and Joel Embiid is absolutely insane. Okay, but saying 34 shots felt like an insult there.
It wasn't until... He went 18 for 34.
He also had 10 assists. So it's not like he was just ball hogging and being like, I'm going to shoot the whole time.
And two turnovers, which is pretty incredible considering... Yeah, no, he had a really good game.
But everyone acting like that Jalen Brunson is the next big thing and joel and beat is shit joel and beat is having a better series than jalen brunson i would say with the exception of the fourth he has a better he has the fourth quarter today correct the fourth quarter today correct jalen brunson was very good joel and beat ran out of gas it i do not think it was a good decision by Nurse to leave him out on the court for the entire second half. He's not ready for that right now.
And you could just obviously tell he ran out of gas. But I hate that it's now, oh, Embiid fucking choking again in the playoffs when he's averaging 35 points a game.
He had 50 points last game. By the way, I've been very impressed with Embiid throughout this playoffs, with the exception of the fourth quarter, where he was completely out of gas.
I am very down to say that. By the way, that was the first time a player has ever taken 34 shots and had a 40 and 10.
Pretty impressive. Any time anyone takes more than 34 shots usually doesn't have a 40 and 10.
That's actually never happened. Yeah, Brunson had a very, very good game.
But he's also had bad runs in this stretch, too. He picked them up.
But his supporting guys picked them up. No one picked up NB today when he had a bad stretch.
Yeah. So is it over? Yeah, it's over.
And what's the fix? Yeah, well, Hank just delivered a soft damn. What about the series of the year? Series of the year.
Rebounding. 40 points.
They have 40 extra second chance points in this series. I've been very impressed with the Knicks.
They just rebound. They just are dogs.
We can't. They're just.
They are dogs. It's just that they want it more.
The Sixers are better basketball players. They are a better basketball team.
Is the same go for the fans? Yes. Fans were a joke today.
Everything that Joel Embiid said is 100% correct. You can't let that happen.
It's very disappointing. It might be the crowd of the year at the closeout game for the Knicks.
This next game at the Garden. That place is going to be busted.
Honestly, it might be the crowd of the year at the closeout game if the Sixers win the next game. Yeah, true.
I'm already worried about that. Would you, not to Mark Wahlberg it, but if you were there, would it have gone down differently? Oh, yeah.
I would have beat the shit out of those guys. That's my guy.
There were things. I was watching videos today.
I'm like, where is the Philly rep That you don't come into our town Without getting a punch Yeah Dude was flipping people off After the game Just in a crowd of Sixers fans And they were just Sitting there taking it They owned you The one time you guys did show up Was when there was a loose ball And I think it was Max He hit the ground Good hustle play And you had everybody On the sideline calling timeout Yeah Like every fan stood up And they're like timeout timeout you got the time and the refs gave it to the fans yeah impact play but it is this is a bad this is a bad day for philly yeah for sure very bad bad sports town today oh today all right good job putting in today because yeah i just and maybe it's just knicks fans are so crazy which they are like it's been so long that's the othericks have been good. That's the other thing.
This is the first time that the Knicks actually have a shot at making a run, and the Sixers have been so disappointing year after year after year that there's obviously a difference. They're making the playoffs.
Yeah. There's obviously a difference of excitement in between fan bases right now, and you can just tell.
It got to the point where during foul shots, I thought it seemed like every shot that the Sixers were taking was for a free chicken. Yeah.
Because they would miss and the crowd would go crazy. Yeah.
The every single time Bronson touched the ball, the MVP chance. That could have been the Nova.
That could have been the Sixers Twitter guy, though. Yeah.
Is the process of failure? No. I mean, no.
you get tobias harris off the books hopefully you can bring in role players next year did you guys go to pair process get you to the eastern conference final where is it again well and beat is still there tyrese maxi is still there you still have two stars on the team if you can build a team and not put 200 million dollars into a guy that can't get you 10 points in a playoff game, then you have some room to work with. What about coaching? I think we're talking about not the process.
We're talking about the results of the process when we should be focused on the process of the process. True.
And the fact is the process of the process worked, and they got a bunch of good draft picks. Yeah.
We're just results guys now. All of a sudden, we're judging the process.
And the process doesn't actually – you can't judge the process until Joel Embiid retires. Yes.
Actually, you can never judge the process. Joel Embiid is still a top player in this game.
Until he leaves. When he has his gas.
Yeah, yeah. He ran out of gas.
He runs out of gas every year. But that was the problem because as soon as – in the first half, as soon as we were up 10, he comes off the court.
Three minutes go by, the Knicks tie it up. Like, you have to be able to weather the storm without your best player being on the court.
Yeah. Like, Joel Embiid, when he's on the court, like, the Sixers are the better team when he's on the court.
Yeah. You need a guard that can get his own shot, score a bunch of points.
That's not what I said. Make shots.
Big threes. 12 for 17 in a game.
Be reliable in the playoffs. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
You need one of those. Okay.
So Sixers are dead. That's official.
Max is burying them. Have we already started the conversation, Max, about Josh spending too much time on the Commanders, not enough time on the Sixers? I don't care about your stupid football team.
Okay. All right.
That's fair. I've had that conversation.
That's fair. Hank.
Cocky Hank. Nope.
Is he back? No. He even said after the Celtics beat down the Heat, two more games exactly like that and move on.
It's a Magic Johnson tweet. Our boy has been lobotomized.
He doesn't have any pass. He's like a robot watching these games now.
And move on. And move on.
Two more games exactly like that and move on. Just forget about the Heat.
Get it over with. Are you not going to be excited about any games they play until the finals? I'm excited about every game.
Yeah. But just the next game.
That was good, though. You're back.
That's why we were upset that Cocky Hank was retired because that was, I think I said it when we were talking about it on Thursday, like you're going to 20-piece the Heat on Saturday.

But that was just on Saturday.

We're focused on Monday.

We've got to do it again Monday, do it again Wednesday or Thursday,

and just move on.

Don't.

20-piece.

20-piece every time.

20-piece nugget. If you were to rank every player in the series,

how far down would you have to go to get to the first Heat player?

Bam's pretty good.

Yeah, probably four or five.

Yeah.

Bam's pretty good.

Just put KP above him?

Mm-hmm.

Oh, you would?

Okay.

Yeah.

What about coaching?

No, coaching's probably a toss-up.

Yeah.

Probably a toss-up.

We're Missoula guys now, so we got to say that.

If they were playing on the court, Missoula all day.

That's true.

Yeah, good point.

That's a really good point.

He's been there.

That's a good point. If they were inside of a batting cage and one of them had to get out with their life, I'm taking Missoula all day.
Yep. Alpha male challenge.
Okay. Other games.
The Lakers have beaten the Nuggets in a game. We should clarify.
Four quarters. Four quarters of the game.
The whole game. And Hank's wish might be coming true because Jamal Murray is questionable for Monday night's game.
He's got cash. All his wishing that the Nuggets get injured.
If you're a Nuggets fan, blame Hank. I wish, for the record, the opposite.
Right, but whenever someone says I don't root for injuries, they're rooting for injuries. I mean, you said that a million times on the show.
And every time I've been rooting for injuries. That's fucked up.
So there we go. Yeah.
In this game, I don't know about you, but it definitely felt like this game was not over until the last minute and a half of the game. Yeah.
Even though it was never really that close. They got to, what, eight points at one point? Yeah.
I think. But it was just like the clock ticking, and the Lakers are still up somewhere in the 10 to 17 point range and the announcers just kept saying like not over they still gotta weather the big comeback that's coming so you felt like the big comeback was going to happen until it didn't until the game was totally over and lebron james is fucking awesome again yeah and anthony davis i love that anthony davis is playing with hey we're not going to this series, but you motherfuckers can't blame me energy every single night because he had 25 and 23, 23 rebounds.

Like, he's making sure that whatever blame pie goes around, it's not on AD. So one thing that they touched on, the announcers brought this up, and when I looked it up because it is very impressive, there are now, I believe, one, two, three, four, five, six players to play 21 seasons in the NBA.
It's Vince, Kevin Garnett, Dirk, Robert Parrish, Kevin Will, LeBron. They've each played 21 seasons.
LeBron in his 21st season has more points than all the other guys combined in their 21st season. Whoa.
Pretty crazy.

That is crazy.

We don't think about what LeBron's doing right now in proper context, I don't think, because we've just seen LeBron be awesome for his entire career. But the fact that he's 39 and doing this, and him and AD are putting the Lakers on their backs and being like, we're not going to get swept.
And they have been competitive. If you look at the time with a lead in this series, it is crazy.
They're winning the series. The Lakers are dominating the series.
Yeah. But the Nuggets have just won more games.
No, I mean. And the Nuggets are a problem.
They're still very good, and I expect the Nuggets to win in the next game and close it at home. But still, even though we are going to take a lot of pleasure in LeBron getting bounced from the first round of the playoffs, as we should.
I think we've earned that right.

Yeah. As LeBron haters.
It is pretty fucking impressive what he's doing. I said it last week when, I think it was game one or two, when he had that Jamal Murray block and it looked exactly like the splitter block 10 years ago.
And it put everything into perspective. We're like, holy fuck.
Like, yeah, he's not the same LeBron that was the peak LeBron who was the best player in the world. But even still, he's playing 39, 40, 42 minutes a night and putting up insane numbers.
And he is old. Oh, breaking news.
This is breaking news for me coming across my timeline. Breaking what? Breaking moves.
Okay. OJ's dead?

Joel Embiid is the fourth player in the last 25 postseasons with multiple games in the

same series shooting 0-5 or worse in the fourth quarter.

Oh.

Run out of gas.

He has Bell's palsy.

Yeah, he's a hybrid.

He's a hybrid car.

We're on to the next game.

What are we doing here?

That's not breaking news.

It was breaking moves to him. To him, he said said Gotta plug him back in Yeah That's tough He's the anti-LeBron Yeah well we can get back to LeBron hate We sucked his dick for long enough I think He only won because they sold their shoes For the pregame warm up Yeah And also His temper tantrum at Darvin Ham Was so funny He was looking He looked like A five year old Not getting their candy bar yeah he just stood there for what it felt like 10 seconds not standing screaming at him stomped well stomping at him he was stomping at him even when the ball was going the other way he was just continuing to yell at his coach that was great for that reason i wish they had lost that game where the one where he he flipped out on his own coach yeah regrettably they won that one so we won't get to remember that as well we should.
But you know what? I was kind of happy to see the Lakers get one. Yeah, because they needed...
I mean, it had gotten so ridiculous, the way they were losing and the way the Nuggets continued to snatch their soul. To go out and fighting and win one was big.
The gentleman's sweep, maybe. Yeah.
Who's not going out and fighting is the Pelicans. They're done.
Yep. Cooked.
The Thunder are for real. They've been dominating.
The first game was close, but since then they've emasculated the Pelicans. And now we have Charles Barkley with all-time rants.
He said that the Pelicans are so bad they shouldn't go to Cancun. They should go to Galveston.
And then he followed it up the next day. Shaq did a really good job of just, I love Charles Barkley so much, of just getting him to double down because he found out that Beyonce's from Galveston.
Yep. So he's like, I don't want the Bayhive after me.
And so he apologized. And then I think Shaq said, like, are you going to go to Galveston? He said, the water's so dirty, I'd rather go to San Antonio with those big old women.
And then he said that San Antonio, you know about Victoria's Secret, it's a secret to them because they're too big. So he basically took one shot at Galveston, apologized, and then took another shot at Galveston and then added in San Antonio.
And it was one of the funniest TV moments. I think he said, like, I'd rather go down to the Riverwalk and watch the big old women big old women with it shouldn't be a river it should be a river treadmill down there yeah big old women uh he's right about galveston by the way yeah and we're gonna get into that with caruso in a little bit but uh charles don't let shack don't let the bay hive don't let jay-z talk you out of what's right stand up for yourself galveston is a is a weird fucking beach yeah you don't want to go there there.
Yeah. And then also on Saturday we had the Magic tying the series 2-2.
The Magic's defense is so goddamn good. I don't think I've seen this in an NBA playoff game in a long time where the Cavs went to start the third quarter all the way to garbage time with four minutes left.
the Cleveland Cavaliers scored 18 points. Yeah, it was painful.
18 points. It was very painful for that Cavs offense.
I like the Magic. I think they're a good young team.
They play just great defense. They're not going to do much this year.
They might win this series. They're going to make it competitive.
I bet on them to win this series. I hope they win this series.
But I feel like next two, three years, they might be making some noise. This would be pretty tragic if the Cavs can't win this series i hope they win the series but i feel like next two three years they might be making some noise this would be pretty tragic if uh the calves can't win this series because dan gober's never won a series without lebron james yeah it's a fact and he's the one who said they're going to win a championship without lebron james and it does feel like the calves are at a crossroad where they like they keep adding people adding players players, adding draft picks,

since they should have something to show for it.

And if the Magic, the upstart Magic, who have like...

It's just such a funny, when you have two teams,

like the Magic, if they lose this series, the future's bright.

Yeah.

If the Cavs lose this series, it's like, what the fuck?

We just can't win series.

Because the Cavs used to be the Magic.

Right.

They're a fun, young team.

Right.

And at some point, if you're a fun, young team and you don't win, you just age into being mid. Yeah.
Yeah. So a lot of stake there to two series.
And then Sunday. So we talked about the Sixers next game.
If you aren't watching the NBA playoffs, I understand some people like, Oh, fuck the NBA. We don't want to watch the NBA that, that mavericks clippers game especially the fourth quarter was such awesome playoff basketball when kairi like the the mavericks were down 20 in the first half but when kairi and james harden were just going shot for shot and james harden was insane and paul george playoff p that three-pointer he made at the end of the shot clock in the corner where he like you know a step back incredible shot to make that was that was what playoff basketball should be those two teams they find a way I know Kawhi was out again which was actually good for the Clippers because he was so bad on Friday they moved the ball yeah and he just looks injured but that game was so much fun to watch and like Kyrie when he when Kyrie gets going and he just starts making just like insane shot after insane shot it's so much fun to watch there was one layup he had today that I think it was like a triple pump fake yeah he was in the air yeah he clutched it like three times and and made the layup and he wasn't surprised that he made it no and I wasn't I was actually not shocked at all that went in because I've seen Kyrie do that.
Within eight feet of the basket, Kyrie is a fucking magician

and always has been.

But it was great basketball to watch.

You're right.

It was a lot of fun down the stretch.

And I kept thinking this would be an all-time collapse by the Clippers,

but then the Clippers just kept playing great basketball on offense

and holding them off,

and it ended up just being a great game on both sides.

Yeah, it was so much fun. It was so much fun.
And then the other palmer in the front row yeah loving it living it up cuban who he doesn't own the team but he still gets all the camera time he is he involved with the team i i think he still is but he can be fired at any moment i still don't really understand that entire he gave up his ownership yeah so he's like owner was it they Kept him emeritus yeah i think they're just like yeah you can just keep your seats and tell people that you own the team yeah you've been around for like they probably just kept in there to yell at the refs yeah yeah probably do your work cubes um and then the pacers and bucks the bucks are going outside and i know bucks fans yeah they're very injured. Dame was out this game.
Bobby Porter's got ejected. Chris Middleton's hurt.
Giannis has not played yet. I understand if you're a Bucs fan, you're like, this is bullshit, our injuries.
Injuries happen, and injuries bounce your way, and sometimes they don't. Because I just want to remind everyone that when Kevin Durant almost single-handedly beat the bucks their championship season james harden and kyrie irving were hurt so they happen they happen in sports jason what was that game seven i know you guys lost by a billion but jason tatum rolled his ankle yeah on the first play of game seven it sucks i understand being very bummed out about it but you can't like they just sometimes they your way.
Sometimes they don't. Yeah, they're really not going their way this time.
But they really went their way when they won a title. And I never apologize for a title.
I'm not taking away the Bucs title. But you also can't just ignore the injuries that happen when you win a title and then be like, the Pacers stink.
They're just getting lucky because we're injured. It also makes it very hard for the Bucs to figure out what they have to do this offseason.
The fact that their main guys aren't showing up at 100% in the playoffs. How do you evaluate that going into next year? I don't know.
Are you honest with yourself when you say the team wasn't really clicking that well to begin with? Yeah. I don't know.
Or do you say like let's – Doc – Doc will fix it? Yeah, let the doc take a look at it.

That Tyrese Halliburton game winner on Friday, which that was the weirdest.

Crazy.

It started at 4.30 in central time.

It was very bizarre to have a game.

Like, I was watching overtime, and it was still very light out.

But, yeah, Tyrese Halliburton, incredible finish, incredible game.

Yeah, Chris Middleton just – I thought he was going to hit three in a row.

He had two insane three-po pointers to keep the game extended but yeah the the paces are fun they're like they're fun young team and uh i like watching them run up and down the court yeah yeah i mean that game was one of the best ones of the playoff so far double overtime incredible but it was weird hank and i walked in the studio and we're like, this game's not live, is it? Yeah. Because it was in the first quarter.
We're like, no, there's no chance this game's on right now. Yeah.
It's like a replay. Yeah, it was very bizarre.
Triple header, I guess. All right, so we'll talk about the Suns-Wolves when it finishes.
There's eight minutes left in the game. The Wolves are trying to sweep the Suns.
Hank, you're up. 3-1 on the Leafs.
Poor Leafs. Swimming.
3-0. And the Leafs are melting down.
We're going to have Biz or Whitney on Friday to talk some hockey. They're melting down.
Probably be all Bruins fans game five. Or I guess game six if it goes back to Toronto.
But, yeah, they're the Philly of the NHL. Stack team.
Can't get out of the first round. Process.
It's a bummer. It's sad.
At least it is sad for a historic franchise like the Leafs. PFT, your team now technically is eliminated.
Technically we are today. They actually didn't follow one of my keys to the game.
Okay. So this game shouldn't count.
Ovi didn't get a shot again. It's okay.
So I can spins on this a couple of a couple ways number one i got one for you as well okay number one the capitals should get credit for the rangers winning this series and for the rangers turning into the juggernaut they are because the rangers turned around their entire franchise a couple years ago when tom wilson in a horrifying act of violence threw panarin to the ground or was it no it's a been a jad him to the ground one of the two anyways uh they accused him basically of attempted murder they wrote a letter an open letter uh begging the league to suspend Tom Wilson or have him arrested and then they fired their entire front office after that because they realized that they were a soft hockey team since that moment the Rangers have turned it around they've built themselves up into being a tougher hockey team, a more talented hockey team, a more cohesive hockey team, all directly from the fact that Tom Wilson absolutely bodied you in your own house one time. So in a way, the Caps kind of couldn't take credit for winning this series, for building the Rangers into the juggernaut that they are right now.
They were a much better team than the Caps. Ovi looked awful this entire playoffoff series which is weird because he looked good at the end of the regular season but he he did not look like the ov that i've grown to know and love and watch over the last how many years came in the league in like 2004 um he looked he looked very different so now i'm even thinking like next year what is it going to be is it going to Ovi just like running out there for power plays, hoping to get a shot from his office where he can still snipe it in? I don't know.
If this is what Alexander Ovechkin is, he might not get the goals record. Because like this playoff series, going multiple games without a single shot from one of the greatest goal scorers of all time, if not the greatest goal scorer of all was just bizarre to watch and it was sad and i was telling big cap before we taped i just really wanted at least one more day where i could be like i have appointment television yeah you got something you gotta do it's like tonight the caps are in a playoff game can't wait to watch but they're in a weird spot where they've they've been sellers at the trade deadline the past two seasons without really an opportunity of doing anything big in the playoffs.
They got into the playoffs this year, even though we're in the middle of a rebuild. But it still does feel like the Caps next season is just going to be dedicated to Ovi getting the all-time scoring record.
And when he's not playing that well, then it's like, well, what are we doing as a hockey team? So obviously Ovi's going to be back next year. I he's not i hope that it's not something that's wrong with him i hope that just maybe it was a long season that ended up getting the best of him but he looked fucking awful yeah awful this entire series and we got our asses kicked it got to a point where i was hoping that you could decline penalties in hockey yeah you said that out loud yeah i said it out loud i know you can't decline penalties in hockey but they got i think in three out of four games they got a shorthanded goal and at least in another game they had another goal that uh that should have been a shorthanded goal that was uh just barely they missed i forget what it was maybe off the pipe or something but the power play sucked everything sucked a couple young guys stepped up a little bit all in all um the haters were right about the about the the.
Sorry, I got a spin zone for you. Okay.
I have a rule, hard and fast rule when it comes to the playoffs. If you get eliminated within a single week, it never really happened.
That's the beauty of it. That was so fast.
It was seven days. Yep.
In and out. No one's going to remember you're in the playoffs, which is probably for the better.
And that's like, it doesn't, you didn't even, people, like, that'd be a trivia question. Who was the A seed in the 2024 play? No one will know.
No one knows. Yeah, it happened so fast.
I didn't even get a chance to get excited by it, by anything in this series. Right.
It was over before you were the. Oh, you were 1-0 in the first game, right? Were we? No.
No, I don't think so. No, I think we were down.
I think it was 0-0. They were down like the whole time.
It was 0-0 after one period. Yeah.
We were tied. We were tied in the first game.
Yeah. We'll always have that.
It was... Yeah, no.
It was 3-0 in the first game before the Capitals scored their first goal. So they were literally just, like I said, it was just over.
Is that true? I thought that we had one goal. No, I'm looking at it right now.
It was 3-0. It was 3-1.
I thought it was 3-1. It was 3-1.
Oh, that's because. You scored a goal.
But that's because their three goals basically all happened at the same time, so I eliminated those three minutes from the game. They happened very quickly.
Yeah, the Abe Simpson just walking in and walking out of the playoff. Yeah, today was over after about, I think, 57 seconds.
They scored their first goal. Yeah, the game wasn't even on yet.
It wasn't. We didn't get on the TV yet, and we were already down.
So I feel like you never win those games. Yeah.
If you're losing by the time you get it on. But this didn't even happen.
Didn't happen. You're good.
Didn't happen. You're good.
I apologize to Red Wings fans. I apologize to hockey i apologize to hockey fans you were right you're right the caps probably shouldn't have been in the playoffs this year yeah but we will get um biz and uh and and or whitney on this week to talk some more playoffs i have we have to decide our period of the week i've got a new nominee i do too is it the third period of the preds cannot yes yeah that was crazy yeah it was wild the preds had an open netter to to win the game missed it bounced it off the pipe inches yeah and uh then two goals with uh with the goalie pulled yep for the canucks goes into overtime canucks win one with like three minutes left and then they scored one with eight seconds left yeah it was an awesome end to that period yeah so that i think we can just say that's period of the week that's my that's my vote yeah anyone else got any other nominees any other periods you want to talk about any other periods hank you're an object yeah no i mean the fourth quarters don't count right uh well the overtime you're talking about basketball he's trying to bring basketball No, no, no.
It's periods of the week well like alex pennant's not in this anymore no other periods of the week for me yeah you could say you could call a quarter a period it is a period of time i love the end of that clippers uh oh so good it was so good should that be period of the week no i think we got a second period say that could be quarter of the week okay that. That could be quarter of the week if you want that.
Would you like to nominate that? It doesn't sound as cool as period of the week. No, period of the week is awesome.
Maybe Max is texting when he was drunk last night. Hank, period.
Pussy. Pussy, period.
You were being a pussy about the Celtics. Yeah, that might be period of the week.
That might be period in between. Pussy of the week.
Yeah, Hank period, pussy period. Max, were you actually upset at Hank for how he was acting? Yeah, I was mad.
I was a little mad too. Max gets drunk and he wants to fight me.
That's pretty much it. You have a good team.
One little heat loss and you took your ball home. I got focused.
You were literally talking about matching up against the Nuggets and you went lose one game. Yeah, I got ahead of myself and now I'm back on the right track.
We are back on the right track. We are.
We got ahead of ourselves. Yeah.
All right. Any other hockey to talk about? I know the Oilers and the first round has been, I don't want to say mid but like it doesn't feel there's been a couple good series i think the night stars series has got it still has a way to get like that might go seven but and no and both teams have won or all the road teams have won uh but like got a lot of three ones out there yeah got a lot of three ones and that's usually i want to i want a couple game sevens i feel like usually the the nhl playoffs we get at least one or two game sevens in the first round i feel like the bruins bruins are on a heater right now yeah yeah we have yeah we have a sweep in all games uh all three ones except the two one that is the stars nights that's crazy okay uh should we talk some NFL draft? We should talk some NFL draft.
Recap the NFL draft. Basically, Friday and Saturday.
I don't know how you guys consume the weekend of the NFL draft. I essentially just wait for the Bears pick, and then I'm like, great pick, and then everything else.
Like if a QB, Spencer Rattler went, everyone said that he sucks as a high schooler. Yeah.
Bad demeanor. Yeah, that's a good way to do it.
I like to watch the draft on Friday kind of like I do on Thursday where I pay close attention for at least the first few picks. Yeah.
And then I quickly realize, oh, yeah, this isn't nearly as entertaining as the Thursday is. Oh, yeah, second round, I get locked in on the guys that my team picks in the second round.
Yeah, I didn't have a second round pick this year. So I have a couple things I'll throw out there that we can talk about.
J.J. McCarthy's initial picture showing up to the Vikings facility was very funny.
Someone aptly said that it had big-time mom-I-frew-up energy. He has like a wrinkled suit.
Also, J.J.arthy has been nominated by colin coward is the number one backwards hat energy quarterback in this draft class backwards hat energy yes that's different from actually wearing a backwards hat that's got to just be the hair he said he said it's hair cocky michigan guy backwards hat energy okay all right but it's it's awesome that cowards throwing backwards hat energy onto a guy not wearing a backwards hat. Yeah.
Where it's like you – I don't like that you would be a backwards hat guy. He's trying to call his shot.
If you wore a backwards hat, I would hate you. Yeah.
We had the funniest trade be realized in this year's NFL when the New England Patriots selected Joe Milton with the draft pick they got for Mac Jones. So that was perfect.
They basically did pimp my ride with an exhibit, and they're like, hey, you liked your quarterback? Well, we put a cannon on him, but he can only throw cannons. Yeah, you want a deep ball guy? And Hank, I would start looking right now at Joe Milton.
I've been looking. Oh, no.
Can you be controversy? I think there might be. I'm more excited about Joe Milton.
It's got to be a drink. It's got to be an open competition because if you watch Joe Milton throwing off passes, the highlights for Joe Milton are higher than anybody else's highlights.
Ball looks real light in his hands. At least you have a Hail Mary guy.
Yeah, I mean, he's exciting. He's an exciting player.
Kind of redundant with Jacoby Rissett on the roster. Yeah, really.
He was the designated sneak and Hail Mary guy. Yeah.
But Joe Milton will be both of those. Yeah.
For sure. Imagine if we got Harrison Jr.
and then we had Joe Milton. Yeah.
Just run go-rouse. He would throw the ball off his helmet whenever he was within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage.
It is great, though, that it was the Mac Jones pick. The sixth rounder they traded Mac Jones and got back, they then upgraded to Joe Milton, cannon arm.
I think it's worth taking a flyer on, Joe. Yeah, absolutely.
The Bears got Sam Hartman, I think. I think the Commanders might be right.
Commanders got Sam Hartman. We got someone else.
Some other, I don't even know. Yeah.
I got a punter. Yeah, you got the Iowa punter, which is awesome.
He's very experienced. He's got a lot of mileage on that leg, though, punting at Iowa.
Listen, I like saying, hey, best player available. If it's a punter, it's a punter.
Yeah, yeah. That's what the Commanders did throughout the entire draft.
They just went best player available. And we got Ben Sennett, the low man trophy winner from Kansas State.

I like that.

He's awesome.

He's mini Kittle.

We're not doing baby Gronk anymore.

He's baby Kittle.

And he's going to be good.

And then I also like – Although, how –

I like Newton, the guy from Illinois.

Yeah.

Dude's a problem.

Yeah.

In the second round, you got him, right?

In the second round, we got him.

Also, there was a moment.

Max and I were watching the draft together, and commanders traded our pick to the philadelphia eagles it was in the second round max starts pounding his chest being like i want cooper i want i thought i thought he was asking to sign riley cooper again it was really weird how how angry he was getting and then they end up drafting cooper to gene and uh and, you thought that they would have brought the Pope into town. Max was just loving it.
And it was honestly a little bit uncomfortable how hard you were celebrating that pick. I think everybody in the bar was like, why does this guy like this white defensive back so much, Max? That's not what happened, even slightly true.
Okay. So give us the slight truth uh pft was very excited because his team was uh and he wanted to get cooper de jean and then the eagles traded and then he just started immediately going like max why do you like this pick so much why do you like this pick so much oh you really want this guy you really want this guy that's interesting when it was really he was really upset that he didn't get him.
So he was just using all of that against him. It was an all-time moment in deflection.
I pegged Max as a racist. I was like, look how much this racist wants this white cornerback.
Kind of pathetic. Really pathetic how much you want this guy.
But, yeah, so I think the Eagles got got fleeced in that trade regardless yeah uh but i was you did get sam hartman i was thinking of austin reed from western kentucky the bears got as an undrafted free agent i love the undrafted free agents yeah sign everyone what i hate to poo poo pft but how did a tight end win the low man trophy uh he was a hybrid he was a full fullback tight end. Also, I don't vote on it.
Actually, I do vote on it. That's a lie.
But the people that nominate the fullbacks, they take care of that. And he did play fullback.
Yeah. He's both.
He's kind of like a mix between Kittle and Yushek. By the way, PFT, did you see your new quarterback,ayden daniels uh when he was seven years old

wrote on a piece of paper i will play in the nfl i saw that how many pieces of paper have that for people who did not play in one of the four major sports oh i was gonna i definitely wrote it i was gonna be the first baseball player astronaut more pieces of paper with i will playing fill in the blank league

and never realizing that

then street

then of paper with I will play in fill in the blank league and never realizing that then street then then traffic lights in Manhattan. Oh, for sure.
Yeah, way more way more than toilets in the millions every year. Every year you get a toilets in the country way more about Russell Wilson's house way more.
He's got like 75 toilets, but he gets gets 75 new toilets the next year think about all the toilets in stadiums next year so you think it's more is more toilets infinity it's infinity number there's more toilets yeah oh you think there's more toilet i think so yeah yeah hank doesn't it's in the billions you think it's in the billions pieces of paper yeah wow your first job out of college if you become an accountant or salesperson you should have to say like you know every day when i was a kid i grew up looking at the poster on my wallet i had that said one day i will play in the nfl yeah and today i'm an accountant because i wasn't good enough at football but what if it was a forensic accountant do you think there's any ever been a kid who's written down i wanted someday i want to be a forensic accountant now because of Shohei. Yeah.
That's kind of a cool thing. The Timberwolves are up two with two and a half minutes left.
Other draft notes I had. Keon Coleman rocks.
That was an awesome introductory press conference when he was like, guess where I got this jacket from? And then one of the Bills reporters was like, from Tom Izzo? He's like, no, Macy's. And then he also said, Keon Coleman said that he went out on, he saw the field and he scored three touchdowns in his head in 30 seconds, which as far as he knows is a record.
It's a record. Well, it's a record for thinking that you scored.
He definitely set that record. I actually would say that's not a record.
I've never thought that I've scored more than three in 30 seconds. Three seems to be like two.
I don't know. I think there's got to be a Buffalo Bills fan who's looked at that end zone and just been like touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.
Boom. How did that go? Like when you scored your first touchdown, you recovered onside kick? I think he just was like, oh, I'm going to score a touchdown in the back corner, and then I'm going to get one in the front.
Yeah. Maybe one in the middle.
The part about the coat was so funny, too, talking about how he buys his coats in the offseason. So right now, he's looking at shopping for winter coats.
Yeah. Because if you get it now, it's way less expensive than if you wait until, like, October.
Yeah. Or November to get it.
Also, Xavier Leggett, awesome voice. Awesome voice.
Awesome voice. Loved his press conference, too.
Incredible. I would listen to him just read the phone book yeah he's great we also had uh oh speaking of the bills josh allen will be the first quarterback in nfl history to uh hand off or throw a pass to two separate frank cores oh yeah frank or jr.
yeah with him yeah yeah and he played with Frank Gore Sr. Yep.
That's kind of cool. That is very cool.
And Frank Gore Jr., his dad is really standing for him pretty hard, which I love. Yeah.
His dad's like, yeah, he's a carbon copy of me. We had all the same measurables.
Nobody thought I was going to be a great running back. That was probably because of the injuries in college.
Yeah. But yeah.
What if Frank Gore Jr., what if he just plays for 20 years? Listen, Frank Gore Jr., I got to look it up. There was a game where Southern Miss didn't have a quarterback, and he played, I think he played quarterback and running back, and it was just the Frank Gore Jr.
show for the entire game where he ran the ball 30 times, threw it a few times, and it was awesome. And I was like, I'm a i'm a frank gorg junior guy now too yeah he's fun there's actually a bunch of sons that got signed uh it was frank gorg jr jerry jerry rice's kid got drafted a little bit later than people thought uh we have another mcafree in the nfl yep he's a wide receiver was a quarterback uh and then there was somebody else what other what others oh jeremiah trotter jeremiah trotter for the Eagles.
That was a cool moment. I like that.
I love all the behind-the-scenes phone calls where they show the GM picking up the phone, calling the kid, the owner gets on the line. That was a great one because they also talked to Jeremiah Trotter Sr.
And it looked like Lurie was going to cry. Yeah, no, it was cool.
He talked about it. He was like, I've known you since you were about two or three um yeah ax man ax man jr coming in yeah i think also memes wanted me to say joe walt he was he was screaming say joe walt say joe walt say joe walt i guess oh joe's dad's play yeah yeah and joe walt uh very harbaugh joe walt came to the facility and harbaugh immediately it was like who's taller, you or your dad? And he made them stand back-to-back.

It was very Harbaugh.

He's meeting his new first-round pick, and he was like,

you guys stand back-to-back.

I've got to check this out real quick.

See what genes we're working with.

Because it may be room to grow if his dad's taller.

Yeah, true.

All right, other notes I had.

I think that's – oh, I mean, we didn't talk about it on Thursday.

We should have.

That was a bad job by us. Roger Goodell was just perked out.
Yeah, he was... He was pill-headed.
He was duck-walking. Yeah! Moving slow, talking slow.
He was standing very close to Eminem at the start of the show. Yeah.
Yeah, it was... I mean, he got his back blown out.
Yeah. By the way, did Bradley Beal say something before this game, like, we're not going out like this, and I think he scored nine points? That's tough.
Yeah. I don't think.
No trade clause, too. Bradley Beal.
Yeah, we'll have to recap this as soon as it goes final. The Mavs, or sorry, the Wolves are up four right now with a minute 40.
I want them to sweep them. And we're going to talk about it with Peter Schrager in a little bit, but the video that came out on friday of david tepper walking into the charlotte area restaurant because the sign outside said please let the gm make the picks this year uh tepper saw that he went in there with it looked how many goons did he have with him he had like at least he just he had one guy i think it was one goon but it was kind of like a i think he's i think he hired a security guard that's just basically tepper light like they had the same body type body type, which doesn't really make a lot of sense.
So they go in there, and on the security footage, they're talking to the owner of the restaurant, or I think it was the owner, and the guy's wearing a hat, and Tepper just takes his hat off his head and puts it down in front of him. That's the most emasculating move you can do.
Yeah. Taking another man's hat off.
Especially when you're David Tepper with that balding pattern. Yeah.
Because he has classic rich guy male pattern baldness. If an owner took my hat off my head, I would show up like Christopher Maltasanti in the neck brace.
Like Tony Khan. Yeah.
I'd be like, oh, you broke my neck when you took my hat off. Yeah.
A complete, like, and the report came out after, like, he wasn't bothered. Mm-hmm.
Every time I I'm not bothered I try to steal someone's hat Yeah Honestly if somebody took your hat off Because it was a big day online for people being like I don't care who you are If another man takes my hat off I'm going to beat the shit out of that first In that situation would you have fucked David Tepper up I would have fucked him up I thought about that and I was like I think I would have liked to say that I fucked him up But I thought about that and I was like, I think I would have

liked to say that I fucked him up, but I do think

that faking an injury is the right move.

Do you know what he should have done is

for a guy like David Tepper

who's probably very litigious, so you don't want

to get in a lawsuit with him and everything,

and you know there's cameras, guy takes your hat,

just throw him a fucking fake

punch and watch him flinch like a bitch.

Is that assault? I don't think it is. No, definitely not.
You don't touch him yeah you then would have to do two for flinching which he could then say is assault no but legally two for flinching that's allowed that's yeah that is allowed but imagine if that was on the tape where yeah that'd be good move and you're you just like little juke him and i would have done yeah and then you could maybe even get the other guy to throw a punch and then now now you're in a lawsuit. Now you're set.
I would have been like, I'm sorry, we spilled some of our famous sauce on your chest. And then he looks down and boop.
Yeah. Do that one to him.
Who got hurt in the Suns game? The coach. Oh, no.
What happened? Wait, that's not. There was a loose ball.
But that's like an assistant coach. Oh, no, that is that's bad by the way did anthony edwards just snatch a soul katie didn't jump up business decision damn but he snatched him is that guy okay what what just happened mike connelly was going for a loose ball on the sideline,

ran right into the coach.

And Chris Finch just went down?

Yep.

Oh, fuck.

And did not get up.

This guy does not look ready to coach.

He's got the biggest, oh, shit, I am not prepared for this look on his face.

He's Dennis Hopper, drunken Hoosiers.

Yeah.

Being like, I don't want to be out here.

Yeah, this is – they better make these free throws. This – I mean...
He's not ready. I'm rooting for the Suns now.
Can you pull it up for us? He looks like he just did not do any assignment whatsoever. Now he's about to give a presentation.
Uh-oh. All right.
Now he's fighting with the other assistant. All right, their oh his knee that didn't look like it was that bad oh and it was it was mike conley oh i don't know oh no is that a knee or, like, broken leg?

What if he just has to poop?

It's like the Paul Pierce all over again.

He's got to finish this game.

I think he'd stay in if they were not down 3-0.

Is this LeBron?

Oh.

I don't know.

This is very funny, though. To lose your coach to a knee injury right before a sweep? They blow the...
Oh, it's up through him. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's not Frank Vogel. They got to show him again.
I want to see him again. He looks like Joe Prunty.
I got to find out. Remember Joe Prunty? Yeah.
Do you think they've got reporters following this guy to the locker room oh they have to for

x-rays yeah they have to they have to give us a report on this um okay i think that was everything from the draft yeah oh shout out our guy tony shuffler did you guys see that no he rocked he got up did a great speech said put mike shannon in the hall of fame and they said god bless bo Knicks. He was doing the Broncos

pick, and then

he got Josh McDaniels trending, which was great. That's awesome.
Yeah, so there was just a bunch of people being like, Tony Shuffer was one of my favorite draft picks. What could have been if Josh McDaniels didn't trade him and Jay Cutler? I love that.
Yeah. Good for Tony.
Just getting a lot of hate on Josh McDaniels. All right.
Let's do who's back of the week. Then we've got two great interviews, talking more draft with Peter Schrager, talking NBA with Alex Caruso.
Who's back of the week is brought to you by our friends at Coors Light. There are plenty of chances in life to make things better by choosing chill.
Grab every opportunity to choose chill, then reach for a refreshing Coors Light when the mountains turn blue. It's as cold as the Rockies.
When you embrace a chill mindset, it's a good time to choose chill and crack open a Coors Light. Coors Light is mountain cold refreshment, crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies.
Make the most out of the times you choose to chill. Choose Coors Light.
I like to chill. If you're a Wolves fan, when your coach gets knocked knocked out of a game but you're up 3-0 and you're about to sweep the Suns, crack open a Coors Light.
Chill out. Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door with the Instacart by going to CoorsLight.com slash take celebrate responsibly.
Coors Brewing Company, Golden Colorado. Alright, who's back in the week? Let's save Suns and Wolves for after Caruso before we do Lottery Ball.
So we'll recap the Suns debacle if they end up losing. So if you want to listen to that, if you want to – all Wolves fans, don't get upset.
We mentioned you. We're going to mention you.
We'll get to that after Caruso and Schrager. Hank, who's back of the week? My who's back of the week is MLB uniforms.
I had that too. Nice.
Congrats. There was a report that came out that basically said Nike fucked up the uniforms.
We're working to fix them. We're going to get the bigger names in the back of the jerseys and everything should be fixed at the latest at the start of the 2025 season.
What? Yeah. They also absolved the weight fanatics completely i don't know if that was you

know it's interesting the fix was in it's interesting isn't it but it was it made very clear that it was entirely a nike issue and no nothing to do with anyone else not a fanatics problem at all just a weird coincidence just nike so yeah they're they're returning to the larger lettering on the back of the jerseys they're fixing the mismatched gray tops and bottoms and they're addressing

Nike's propensity to collect sweat

and they're fixing the mismatched gray tops and bottoms okay and uh they're addressing nike's propensity to collect sweat meaning like the uh the the pooling of of the sweat and also the see-throughness of the pants see-throughness so you know you've got a problem when that has to be put into the press yeah they should be less see-through in the pants area see-through yeah players should be able to slide yes without the uniform busting their ass open yeah i'm sad i mean i'm glad that we get to watch an entire more season of baseball with having this be like a a weird thing that we get to all pay attention yeah that doesn't make it fun i like that i like that but uh yeah they're trying to fix it now i did i read one thing that said that the guys in the mlbpa might be investors

in fanatics oh and so maybe that was why people are pointing at nike for being the problem not fanatics i think it's just a weird coincidence probably just one of those weird coincidences yeah so nike so it was nike i said nike was trying to innovate something that didn't need to be interviewed, which is fair.

Sometimes you got to take a shot, right?

Take a chance. No, it's a debacle by Fanatics and Nike.
Yeah, I mean, that's what Nike is. Oh, yeah, yeah, just Nike.
Like, that's basically what businesses do. They innovate stuff, and they're like, you need this now.
Yeah. Apple does that all the time.
Yeah, aren't you bored with the thing that's been working all these years yeah hey you know your phone don't you need a new one yeah well no not really don't you need another camera on your phone well it's too bad your battery sucks now and you have to get a new one yeah ever thought uh hey if i'm standing a mile away from a mountaintop do you want to zoom in and be able to see a flower on that mountaintop

you find yourself in this position a lot you definitely need one hey aren't you sick of having a phone an ipad a computer don't you want a giant huge phone that wraps around your eyes yeah and doesn't allow you to watch porn on it yeah wouldn't that be good yeah that would be good yeah yeah don't sign me up yeah aren't you sick of talking to people and going outside Yeah.

Oh, we have your escape.

Yeah, here you go.

You love this now.

Yeah.

Hey, remember that truck you had? What if we just made it a big cube and called it a cyber truck? Yeah. What if we- We fixed it.
Aren't you sick of your brain having its own thoughts? Wouldn't you rather just have a chip in there that does all your thoughts for you? Yeah. Wouldn't that be better? That would be better.
By the way, I have a hack. I shouldn't say it because it's going to...
If you're ever in traffic and you're trying to merge into a lane you shouldn't be merging into, wait for a Tesla. They automatically have to stop.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
The cars are the sensors. I shouldn't say that because...
Well, actually, I don't have a Tesla, so I don't give a fuck. But yeah, little hack for people out there.
It's good. Pretty good, right? Unless it's the one time where it doesn't stop.
Then you're fucked. Then you're...
Yeah. But those cars will stop, and you're good to go when you're the asshole who has to merge.
It's smart. Yeah.
My Who's Back of the Week was going to be old uniforms, but Hank took it, so I'm going to say my Who's Back of the week is coney you guys remember coney uh yeah that was what uh that was a billy football play yeah that was billy football play in uganda yeah it was their goal line package and then their whole team was like we don't say that word yeah please stop saying that word and billy kept looking around like coney yeah coney why are they all looking at me weird to say coney so apparently russian mercenaries they're a good good group. They're in hot pursuit of the notorious warlord Joseph Kony after a bloody near capture in a remote corner of the Central African Republic earlier this month, sources tell Rolling Stone magazine.
So Kony might be dead. Maybe we did it.
All those YouTube clicks that we did back in 2012. See you, bitch.
Finally paid off. He's finally gone.
He's finally gone. But also, according to Billy, something in Uganda that people just say all the time is they call each other Kony.
So if if there's a politician that you don't like, you'll be like, that guy is basically Kony or he'll be like, I think he is Kony. And then it's like a slur you could put on somebody.
Got it. So the Coney accusations are running wild in Uganda.
Who knows if this is the actual Coney or if it's just some guy that got accused of being Coney. Oh.
Because they never caught Coney, so Coney could be anybody. Yeah.
Coney could be Hank. Coney could be Hank.
He's our Coney. Yeah.
Bring back cocky Hank. No.
You're up 2-1 and 3-1 job's not finished like what the fuck you're a pussy you're a pussy you are a pussy that's fine i mean i can't exist on the show it's literally a breathe one way breathe the other way no say this be cocky say that go back to saying this speak don't speak don't speak we always want you to speak. We always want you to speak.
Yeah, speak. We always want you to speak.
Read, speak, be. We want all that.
You did quit speaking when your teams were losing. That's just like a gaslighting thing you guys say.
I know it's very true. There's a lot of evidence.
I would love a super cut of Hank saying gaslighting. Gaslighting, yeah.
Well, he can't speak. Yeah, yeah.
So now you're gaslighting him and you're not speaking again. Well, like, Max, like your example with PFT at the bar, like they just say these things that you do at the bar and I was there.
That didn't happen. What PFT said.
Correct. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. But the thing is, I was joking about that.
I've never gaslighted you about something you said at a bar. I don't know what you're talking about.
I haven't i i want to say i agree but i feel like you're bringing this up because i don't go out but also max says yeah max says i'm good max has said a lot of things in a lot of bars that's true one thing about max he'll beat the fuck out of hank i never said that i never said that yeah you said that you said that a lot that wasn a bar, to be fair. That was just existing out loud.
Remember when he kept insisting to the mentalist that Shane Victorino was your favorite player? Yeah, let's talk about this. Come on.
Come on. The guy was like...
How did we just get back to Hank? Let's get back to Hank. This poor mentalist was brought around a bar at a Super Bowl party just doing party tricks for the people.
He was just trying to wow people, make the time pass. This is not something that needs to be talked about.
And then he came up to us, and he was like, who's your favorite baseball player of all time to Jake? And then Jake was thinking to himself, he's like, oh, I think I'm going to tell him Derek Jeter. I love Derek Jeter.
And I was like, no, ask me. Ask me.
My favorite player is Shane Victorino. And the guy was like, well, you ruined the trick.
You're not supposed to say that out loud. He's like, no, but Shane Victorino fucking rocks.
By the way, Draymond Green said you got to stay in the game, coach. It's 140 left.
Wish him well, though. Wish him well, though.
Called him a pussy. Wish him well, though.
Called him a pussy. All right, my who's back is Kentucky Derby.
It is Kentucky Derby week. Very excited for that.
We have Randy Moss coming on on Friday. We have J.J.
Redick on Wednesday, but PFT I'll be attending your Kentucky Derby party this party's gotten so much buzz since since Friday when this episode came out I'm turning people away now whoo house is going to be full that's crazy I had to go to Costco went to Costco dude Costco rocks got a yeah this is our second consecutive part of my take we'll we'll do an impromptu Costco ad went to Costco Loaded up on hot dogs. You can buy so many things at Costco.
It's insane. I had a moment this weekend on Saturday.
I was out with two of my kids and my wife. And I was just like, she's like, where should we go for lunch? I was like, why don't we go to Costco? She's like, for lunch? And I was like, yeah.
Hot dog, the giant slice of pizza? And then I got turned down. But next week we'll be doing that.
I'll just take the kids. We'll go on a sneak Costco run.
Yeah, I've officially reached the point in life where I go to Costco and I'm pumped. Oh, every time.
There's a bunch of dads in there doing their shopping. Dude, it's the best.
You give each other the Costco old man wave. Not only that, but I love that they check the receipt because then I'm always just like, yeah, I didn't rob.
Yeah. Check it out, bro.
It's valid. Yeah, look at it.
I got 300 mini cupcakes, 75 rolls of toilet paper, and 16 gallons of laundry detergent. I didn't rob.
That's the cycle of life. That's all you need.
need yeah one of my favorite things to do is walk into a costco and act like i'm sneaking in and then the person's like excuse me sir sir sir and then think that you're they're catching you sneaking in and then you turn and you're like boom costco executive card yeah have it uh okay let's get to our interviews we got peter schrager we got alex caruso and then on the other side of the interviews we will recap the Suns have officially been swept in a sad, sad state of affairs for the Phoenix Suns organization and we'll give a lot of credit to the Wolves.

So here he is, Peter Schrager.

Okay, before we get to our good friend Peter Schrager recapping the 2024 NFL Draft,

quick word from our friends from Pepsi.

Everything is better with Pepsi.

We went to Detroit last week, had our, pardon my, cheesesteak truck with some Pepsi infused items, and we drank a lot of Pepsi and everything tastes better with Pepsi. Think about it.
This is your favorite sandwich, your favorite piece of pizza, your favorite wings. Pepsi makes everything taste better.
Saucy, stretchy, crunchy, gooey, messy. Pepsi is an essential part of the most undeniably delicious food moments.
Let's face it. Pepsi just makes every bite better.
I love the wild cherry. That's my big cat approved Pepsi product.
The refreshing pop of sweet fizzy Pepsi bubbles makes even the best food taste even better.

Grab a Pepsi Zero Sugar for your next meal as every crave-worthy bite is better with Pepsi.

I'm going to go get a Pepsi right now.

Nice little Pepsi with a big tall glass of Pepsi with some ice.

Wild cherry zero sugar.

Awesome.

And Pepsi gave us the old school glasses, which I love. Yep.

Love.

So everything is better with a Pepsi. Okay, here he is, Peter Schrager.
Okay, we now welcome on our very good friend. It is Peter Schrager.
He's fresh off his trip to Detroit. The NFL Draft 2024 is in the books.
Schrager, you can find him on Fox Sports. Good morning, football.
Schragerrags let's start with this because we got a lot of questions about winners losers stories you heard but the dust is settled uh you are the master of some spin zones spin zone the falcons for us yep let's go let's step right into my office okay well it's funny because it's like part of me is all right have a contrarian takes so i want to defend it and then part of me is like i've got to carry the water for friends in atlanta so let's just do what i do yeah the argument there right now is that there's no worse place to be in the nfl than quarterback purgatory and there's no worse place to be than 9-8, 8-9, 10-7, 7-10. And there's a lot of teams in the league that live in that area.
And why that area is so bad is you're just good enough to be in playoff contention every year, but you're not good enough to actually win the thing, and you're not bad enough to get a draft pick. Now, this is very convoluted thinking.
If you're considering the goal is to win the Super Bowl, this move to them ensures that no matter what happens in the next two to three years, three to five years, if it all goes well for both sides, they will not be in quarterback purgatory. They viewed Michael Penix as a top 10 prospect in this draft.
They themselves do not see them being in the top 10 again, now that they have Kirk Cousins. So the argument is best player on the board.
Yes. And then $180 million, $100 million guaranteed.
Kirk's our starter. We fully intend for Kirk to be our starter.
But if and when that time comes, because he's 36 coming off an Achilles, we have our guy. And God forbid something happens to him because, yes, quarterbacks do get injured in the league.
The season is not down the drains. I think they were really scarred by the Desmond Ritter, Taylor Heineke, you name whoever else has started for them, Mariota, that they don't want to be in that place again.
And I'll say it because I think it is kind of linked together here. This is the same franchise that looked Bill Belichick in the eyes, had two interviews with him and said, nope, we're good.
They're on a limb. They're beating to the beat of their own drummer right here and in this case they don't think it's crazy that they took Michael Penix if anything they think more teams should because quarterback is the most valuable position in this league times 10 and now they have theirs for the future while also having their current one uh that they feel pretty good about even they backed it up with all the money they gave him yeah i i the more i thought about it i i still think it's crazy in the

fact also having their current one that they feel pretty good about. Even they backed it up with all the money they gave them.

Yeah, the more I thought about it,

I still think it's crazy in the fact that they probably could have traded back

and gotten more assets because the teams that were picking right after them,

we saw Denver was in love with Bo Nix.

The Vikings were in love with J.J. McCarthy.

It felt like they could have probably moved around a little bit

and faked some teams out and gotten some more draft capital. the the one thing you could say for the falcons is it was known as a weak draft for defense there wasn't no defensive player taken to the 15th pick and what were the falcons going to do the i i think the best player available was roma dunze who went to the bears but if they take another wide receiver they get killed for that because that would have been four years in a row that they took a running back wide receiver tight end.
So I guess, listen, they have a chance to be right. And right now they're the laughingstock.
But if it works out, they'll be geniuses for it. The stat I got in the modern draft era, which is 1966, they're the first team ever to draft four skill position players on offense with top eight picks four years in a row that's wow so you do pits you do london you do bijon and now you do panics um i would add one more thing like when you're talking about that purgatory and they didn't name names or name teams to me but

they were just saying in general like that's not a place you want to be we don't we don't expect to be in the top 10 anytime soon like we think we're going to contend especially in the nfc south with cousin um but you i started thinking like well who would they be your friend and you start thinking you're like all right like look at pittsburgh yep the last decade look at den the last decade. None of these teams have first overall picks,

but they are in that 10 to 20 range.

And it's, all right, the Titans.

And it's like, all right, well, how are you getting a quarterback?

Well, in this case, they got theirs.

Now, someone said to me, it's like Jordan Lowe,

and we've all debunked that.

The analogy to me is, imagine the Jets signed Aaron Rodgers last year and did all that hoopla and then drafted a quarterback in the top 10 like that's how this feels it's not jordan loving aaron rogers it's the jets kind signing aaron because cousins that relationship was in a great place i think cousins threw out a first pitch to a braves game a couple days ago i think and i have to double check this i think he was part of like the falcons draft festivities like oh no the old mike clennon yeah so i was gonna ask you about kirk um have you checked in on him is he okay we have we heard a little bit about every other media member apparently has had a heart to heart with them the day of the amount of people that tweets like kirk was surprised there's like 18 different versions of it i haven't reached out. And I know his agent, Mike McCartney, very well, but I haven't spoken to him either.
Yeah, no, apparently he didn't know that was going to happen. But I've told this story and I'll tell it one more time.
Peyton was with the Saints and they had the 11th pick in the draft in 2018 or 2017, sorry. And they wanted Mahomes.
Like Mahomes number one on their board. And they hadn't told Breeze.
They had no intention of telling Breeze. But if Mahomes somehow fell to 11, they were taking a quarterback.
And then Drew Breeze, out of nowhere, had never done this in his career, called up Sean Payton. They're like best friends.
And it's like, I've got a couple of buddies in town. Is it i if i bring them to the war room tonight for the draft and so then sean has to decide like what do i do here and he tells the story i don't know if he never told it publicly but it's great and he's like so right then and there i'm like sure and then i pulled drew aside i'm like there's a chance there's this kid from texas tech we really like like there's if there's a chance if i take him and as picks go by one by one by one like he he sits drew down like seventh pick overall and he says to drew he's like we're gonna take the texas tech quarterback and to drew breeze's credit because the story is much better if drew breeze takes out like a two by four and breaks it over paint and said he's just like gotta do what you gotta do this is the height of drew breeze like i think the next year they went to the nfc championship game and breeze like you gotta do what you gotta do for the future i totally get it like breeze was cool about it and then andy reed trades up one pick before them gets mahomes they take marshawn latimore and breeze was there to watch it all but like it's never a comfortable conversation yeah and if you don't take the guy you don't ever want to even like uh let the other quarterback know that know because the alternative is what happened to Rodgers where he was, I think, down in Peru or Chile when it happened and was completely blindsided and was upset by it.
But Cousins, I think he left Minnesota because he wanted that commitment, right? And these guys gave him the commitment. But here michael pennix who chris sims made a great point come training camp cousins is awesome obviously cousins is still rehabbing like no one throws a prettier football maybe anywhere in the league or in college than michael pennix i was at the combine like two feet behind him it was like watching mozart compose music or it was like watching van gogh It was just like this lefty big release with this like tight spiral throws just bullets, but they're like so beautiful.
And it's once these players start catching passes from Penix and Cousins is on the side, like it's going to be something. Yeah, it's going to be awkward.
I mean, is there any anything at all to him being a lefty quarterback where it's like, okay, well, maybe some teams would prefer not to have a left-handed quarterback because it does look different for the wide receivers like is that something that people do take into account because watching lefties on tv i'm like that's that person's a witch it looks wrong it looks weird yeah um yeah is that you're saying is that like some people were down on pennix is the light i think the more the medicals but the falcons were supercons were super high on him. And I think if the Vikings just based on my Intel, if the Vikings didn't get McCarthy, they were very comfortable taking Pennix at 11.
Yeah. I think the, I think the Broncos, if Knicks, I think the Broncos had Knicks over Pennix, but who knows if that was a smokescreen, I think if he was there at 12.
So like, it was more the team than where he went. Like, you know, he goes eighth overall to another team.
We're like, all right, it's a little early than we thought. But the fact that they just signed cousins that I was, how'd you guys think it, where'd you, how'd you find it out? Like I, I had this whole like plea online and then I did it on good morning football on Thursday where I'm like, please don't tip picks.
Like just don't, or if you do, if you do tip picks like if you're a viewer at home like try to lay off like twitter because there will be something cool and shocking and different that happens tonight you don't want to find it out from a random tweet from like jordan and schulzer you know shams charney because what happens is and i'll give you the behind the curtain either a good reporting someone from the team submits the card and there's someone in the room who can tweet a reporter, text a reporter and be like, dude, we're taking Penix. And then that reporter, good for them, they can go public with it.
I don't know if that's how the fan wants it, but that's fair. Or maybe more dubious is at the NFL teams, all 32 of them, when another team submits their pick, where it says the pick is in on the board when it's like all 32 teams get that before it's announced on television so so all it takes is one person who has a source at any of the teams to say oh falcons just took panics and then they run to twitter like did you find out from a tweet or did you guys find out like you did yeah so so every year I have a ritual, and I like Albert Breer.
He's been on the show before, I think when he got hacked, right? We had him on. Good guy, good reporter.
Good guy. Every year I mute him on draft night, because he tweets out every single pick, and then I forget for about, I don't know, usually like two or three weeks that I have him muted.
Come back at OTAs. Shit, I got to in the timeline uh but yeah i found out from one of his tweets and i was sitting in our war room here at barstool and my my jaw was just on the floor for like a minute i couldn't believe it yeah because it's not that he's a bad player and if you think that if you have him graded as a top 10 worthy pick in terms of a quarterback then yeah i guess it could make sense and it might pan out for him the long term but at the time i was i couldn't believe it because it didn't make sense for about 10 different reasons yeah and the salary cap hit on cousins is so much and now you're adding another quarterback to the fold um dan what about you same thing i i found out from we were doing no spoilers in the in the in our war room the only one i spoiled was

i wanted to know the bears ninth pick before anyone else so no one could spoil it and i had the same reaction i was like what the fuck like and i get it kirk cousins is in he's on a two-year deal everyone says four it's two-year deal so when i get it i understand like you always you don't want to be in a spot where you need a quarterback you want to be you know you have your next guy already and Kirk Cousins isn't young, but it still was just shocking to me just because

I think they could have traded and gotten I think they could have gotten him somewhere later and gotten more draft capital and like that's to me the the the winners and losers of the drafts are the guys who are able to maneuver it and get who they want but also get get the most out of it. Like even the Bears, like the story came out that I think it was Ian Cunningham was holding Ryan Poles back because he wanted to trade up to get Roma Dunze.
So if he trades up to get Roma Dunze, yeah, we still have Roma Dunze, but he just gives away picks next year. That would be a mistake.
Instead, they were patient. They got the player they wanted.
So it's like those little maneuvers are the winning and losing drafts, and I think the Falcons could have maneuvered better. That's all.
Yeah, that's fair. Peyton was taking great pride in that he got the Vikings to trade up with the Jets.
He was bragging about it, but that's the game of chicken. So the Vikings, through fear that the Broncos were going to jump them, made a trade with the Jets to go up just one pick.

And then they took care of it at 10 and just got McCarthy there when, you know, if they had stayed, he's probably there anyway.

The Jets, you know, and maybe Sean Payton wasn't going to be able to pull that trade off.

But you're right.

And that's what these guys get such a high on, too.

Like, that's the best stories of what if we had made that trade or what if we moved back or what if we stayed put and did this um you know everyone thought the jets were taking brock bowers and this year they actually there were no leaks out of the building they take olu out of uh you know out of penn state broncos take the quarterback and then you know talking to the raiders guys who knows if they would have taken pennix if he was on the board but they did not think in a million years brock bowers was going to be sitting there at 13 they just took michael mayor last year in their case they're like he's one of the cleanest prospects in this entire draft we'll find a way to use and we need offense everywhere so then brock bowers who i can promise you in a million different mock drafts not one of them had brock bowers going to the raiders but that's the beauty of the draft yeah it is beautiful yeah we're going to get back to more peter schrager but before we do game time game time's a exclusive ticketing partner of barstool sports did you know you can get tickets to uh any baseball game right now let's look up real quick. Let's look up on the GameTime app.
The Cubs, I think they're coming back to Wrigley this upcoming weekend. GameTime, the official ticketing partner of Barstool Sports.
You shouldn't have to worry when you buy tickets to your next big event. GameTime is a fast and easy way to buy tickets to all the sports, music, comedy, and theater events near you.
All right. I'm looking it up.
Cubs. 11 bucks.
11 bucks. Get in.
But there's some really good seats. There's some 200 level.
Oh, yeah. 75 bucks.
50 bucks. Maybe you want to sit in the sun.
I'll tell you right now. You can sit in the sun.
$111 for a flash deal in box 28. That's a great deal.
Get some sun, Cubs, weather's turning, outdoor, baseball, nothing better, and Game Time will get you there. They have flash deals for sudden discounts.
That's what I just quoted. Zone deals for when you're feeling flexible, and their lowest price guarantee means that if you can find the same seats for less anywhere else, Game Time will credit you 110% of the difference.
GameTime is the best place for last-minute seats with up to 60% off your favorite events. What are you waiting for? I'm going to buy those Cubs tickets, and we're going to go sit in the sun, watch the Cubs play the Brewers.
So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app.
Create an account. Use code PMT.
For $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. Download the GameTime app today.
Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed with the GameTime app. Okay, let's get back to some more Peter Schrager.
Who out there and talking to everyone, I know everyone loves their draft. Everyone got an A+.
Yeah, everyone gets an A-plus in their own room. But who do you think did the best maneuvering the board, filling holes, and you walked away being like, I think that team is just way better than they were walking into Thursday night? There's one that's going to be pandering to one of you that I can talk about, and there's another one that I think there's no fans in that room right now.
But I think Washington had a really, really good nine different picks nine different positions got a bunch of players who can play right away and i think jayden daniels is the perfect mix of has a ton of experience he's 23 and then he's still electric and i think i think what they did around him with the tight end senate and then of course getting the offensive lineman cole Coleman. But I like, I love the fact that they got Johnny Newton in the second round, like Adam Peters for a first year GM.
Like that was awesome. And then I think the Arizona Cardinals who had so many picks, they, they hit a home run out.
They're not a sexy team. I couldn't tell you, you know, five guys that contributed on their roster last year, but like you talk around the league, everyone's like, know arizona compiled a bunch of picks and they got a bunch of guys who are going to play right away and then i really i know there was only five picks but i thought chicago with what they did i mean you get caleb and adunce and then the kid from duke who everyone was really high or yale yeah everyone was really high on like that's a really good draft that's three contributors that are going to play on a team that i think was a couple games away from being a playoff yeah i mean the draft was the first round for you because with only five picks it definitely like were you hoping they would trade back from a dunesay or were you i was i was cool with whatever i'm in full trust ryan polls everything he does like i don't think he's been i think he he actually i'm working on a theory that he did the chase clay pool deal on purpose so that everyone was like, this guy's dumb.
And then every deal he's made since has been a genius. So he basically – Yeah, he completely rope-a-doped the league by being like, who would trade a second for Chase Claypool? What an idiot.
And then everything he's done since has been gold. By the way, when you just said you were going to pander to someone, Max started shaking his head because he thought you were going to talk about the Eagles.
I'm happy you didn't. Because he literally, it was one of those moments.
He pointed at himself. He's talking about me.
I know the Eagles had a great draft. Yeah, he stood up, and you're like, no, I'm actually talking about the guy behind you.
So he was very excited about his draft. I thought the commander's trade with the Eagles in the second round was genius.
We fleeced the Eagles. They gave up so much to take Cooper to Gene when Kool-Aidckinsey was still on the board i love that pick i love to see that happen in the division and then adam peters is uh i think he's like the best player available god so if you had asked me going to the draft what the commander should be doing i was saying like load up on the offensive line get some big boys have somebody protect jayden got one lineman we got one lineman in.
But what he did, I thought, a really good job of is he realizes that the roster needs a ton of work. Right? Yep.
So we're not like an offensive lineman away from being a contender for the Super Bowl. So he just saw value getting great players, even if it was a position of strength.
Get good young players wherever you can. I thought he did an awesome job of that.
But, yeah, the icing on the cake for me was just fleecing Max in the second round. Just absolutely taking him to the woodshed on that.
Dude, nine positions is awesome. Max wanted Cooper DeGene so bad.
He was devastated. He wanted Cooper DeGene so bad.
Devastated after this pick. I wanted Cooper DeGene, so I'm projecting on Max that we fleeced him.
Everyone did. I think the easiest way to get engagement online or to get likes or retweweets i have posted cooper de jean basketball highlights like 11 times but like 11 different reasons why like what and it's just i just want like new followers so maybe this will go viral if i do it at eight o'clock p.m i'll just put out cooper de jean basketball highlights yeah yeah i said today i posted that video and my tweet was um you know because i'm 6'3 in person i say whenever i and ever an ex player a current player a coach sees me in person it says oh shit you must have hooped in high school which i did this is what i always hope they envisioned me just like dunking and i was yeah i like i like 6'3 in person you're just implying that you're like 5'10 on camera 6'3 in person yeah what about you i feel like you a big guy too.
Do people always say like, yo, you're taller than I expected? No, I think people know I'm tall. But yeah, I do.
Like there is, I mean, we make fun of Florio. Like Florio is actually not that short.
He's like 6'1, but he has short face. So like when you- Short face? Yeah, he does.
Yeah, he's got short face. He's got a short vibe to him.
Yeah, he's got short energy. So like when I could understand people like, oh, shit, Mike Fleur, you're way taller than I thought.
I always thought you wore your 6'3 correctly. Okay.
Yeah. I'm going to start saying 5'9 in person.
Yeah. That's a powerful line.
Shrigs, I got a question for you about your good friend Sean McVay. He made his first first-round selection ever as a head coach.
In that war room, was there any chance that they were going to trade? Was he like, he like no guys i really don't want to do this like what if what if uh what if we had to pick up their fifth year option like that would suck he very much very much was in the the mode of trade like they get such a kick out of the trade down and they think and it's not just him it's all of them like they think it's the coolest coolest thing that they get guys on day three that all end up being pro bowlers.

I'll tell you, they had, I think I could say this.

They had three guys on their board.

I forget who the other defensive player was that they were interested in.

And the offensive player was Bowers.

And if it wasn't any of those three guys versus whoever that might have been Latu, might have been Murphy.

I forget who it was. It might have been Peyton or Turner, Dallas Turner, but it was Bowers on offense.
And it was two defensive guys and they'd done a million simulations. And like Sean was geeking out on this, the whole last 48 hours, like call, like texting me, like, you know, all these scenarios and their whole front office is great.
And they, they all this like we do they're almost like fans um in a lot of ways and bowers would have been the one like if they'd moved up it was going to be it but they didn't they just were so happy and then verse fell to them and then they get versus teammate which was one of the cooler viral videos which i'm sure there needs to be like a behind the scenes story on how the hell they made that happen that verse was somehow there to get on the zoom call yeah this it was cool great yeah i love all those videos yeah i

watch why doesn't matter what team it is what player it is i i always like to hear it isn't

it funny that some of them don't land like it's just a player being like hey coach yeah coach

being like all right and like the team still posts it out yeah yeah the owners on the phone

like congratulations we're bringing in yes sir thank you sir yeah yeah the bears posted the one with caleb williams and it was kind of awkward because he had known he was going to be a bear for he was wearing a shirt underneath his suit that said chicago on it so it's like ryan poe is talking to him and caleb was like okay sounds good like we've all is a formality he's like we don't have to release that like it looked like he wasn't enthused but he clearly had been enthused for the last two months he's like we've got to wait till there's five minutes left yeah right all right the nfl yeah i got a question good i got a question for you though about about the logistics of the broadcast and the draft itself why is it that we have to wait for the full allotted amount of time for the first overall pick to be announced in any round why can't question why can't goodell say like i'm opening up the draft he gets booed and he's like no here's a little kid that's on stage with me don't boo me i've got this kid next to me i declare the draft open and then boom immediately bears hand in their pick and goodell says okay the bears have taken caleb like they've had what four months they've had four months totally to do this totally i'm with you i think it's a tv show in a lot of ways and they want to build some sort of suspense and so they go that way i mean look i i laughed last year i was in kansas city and i'm doing the draft and we're sitting there and with a straight face they're singing national anthem there was a uh you know flyover of the you know what are they called the blue angels yeah and no no one's and i'm like they're handing names in on a card and announcing yeah yeah yeah this is amazing so i think it's all part of the show um but this year goodell had what he had he had kids? He had kids and the flag football, but he also had the, he had Eminem. He had Jared Goff, he had Amon Ra.
Then he finally gets back and they still boot him. Yeah.
Yeah. They had the A-10 Warthogs buzzing the tower going off top.
It was like the most American thing ever for the NFL draft. Yeah.
For some reason. It's the best.
It's the best. And then the fans that are all dressed up.
Yeah. Like in the front row is one of the big chains, faces painted, and then they hear a guy in the second round and it takes them like...
My favorite moment is when they don't immediately know who it is. Yeah.
And they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, I like that guy. Yeah, good pick.
The best. The Jets took Olu and Kyle Brandt was in the pit doing all the interviews and we were laughing.
He asked me, he's like, what do you think the reaction was when they took an offensive tackle over a tight end? I'm like'll tell you exactly i'm like first of all where's the fan from he's like long island i'm like perfect here's the reaction the initial thing is surrender cobra they passed on bowers and then one second break and then smart pick and smart pick you gotta yeah you gotta protect rogers yeah from the inside out yeah right yeah it's not sexy they'll become bill parcells in that moment um all right so I know everyone loves their draft. Was there anyone that you were like, that didn't really make sense? Or a draft where you're like, hey, they probably missed on – they didn't maybe fill all the holes they had going into the draft.
I have so many thoughts. It's hard because I truly am telling you that teams have different – I had a team tell me that Latu, just because of the medical stuff, wasn't a first-day pick for them.
And so then if the Colts take them 15, the Colts are doing flips that they got their number one defensive player in the draft. The pass rusher they never thought would be their 15, but another team didn't even have him at all viewed that way because of other reasons.
So one team that like just because of the whole offseason being so curious has been the cowboys where jerry says all in and then guyton has not played a ton is not like this polished player they traded back they get more draft capital and they end up picking an offensive lineman who sure might play but but like Rico Dowdles, their number one running back right now. They didn't sign any real free agents and you know, they've got Dak and CD Lambs contract looming.
So like to me, the Cowboys, when you say you're all in, and I know we shouldn't make too much out of an owner saying whatever, but like there's a thousand people working for that team that are like, okay, well he said that, but we're doing the does that mean if you're if you're trading back and you're drafting tyler guy and who might end up being great but all in how for 2024 all in for what you know all in my ass you're saying all in my ass you're doing the skip bayless yeah yeah yeah there's a comma though right yeah there's a comma there's a comma it was uh so yeah what about i guess it's it might be tough for you to say which team you think had the worst draft i know you're you're close with a lot of front offices a lot of coaches but no it's more that i find it i find it annoying when it's like draft grades and no one's brave enough to give anything lower than a b minus and no one's bold enough to give anything higher than an a minus so like to me you know who had a bad draft there we'll back in a couple years, we'll know who had good drafts and bad drafts. I looked at Mel's.
He gave like 15 Bs. A lot of Bs.
Everyone gets a B. Everyone gets a B except Ravens get an A.
Yes, Ravens got an A. Yeah.
But what would you say is the team that you've heard from other teams around the league where they're like, I don't understand what this team was doing? I'll tell you a team. And it was the Eagles last year that I got a lot of heat for in Philly because I said on the draft, I'm on the broadcast day three and I love it.
It's my favorite day. And I said, a few teams around the league now.
All right. Slow down everyone on TV.
Just crowning the Eagles because they did the Jalen Carter, the Nolan Smith. They traded for DeAndre Swift.
And it was like, literally it was a three hour, oh my God, the Eagles, they went to the Super Bowl last year and they could do no wrong. And I think other teams are like, guys, there's 31 other teams on the broadcast.
Why don't you talk about someone else? I'm like, all right, fair. The team this year that I got from a couple teams that they were like, okay, some curious picks, but maybe they know better than we do.
And one of the lines was, you guys on NFL Network sure do seem to be excited to crown them was the Detroit Lions this year. They traded a future third round pick for an offensive lineman at a British Columbia that they took on day three, who might be great, might not be great, whatever, but that's one of those where you're kind of feeling like what's a heat check you're kind of feeling yourself a little bit their draft last year was so good when they got laporta and gives and branch and even jack campbell who might not have had the best season but when you draft an inside linebacker at 18th overall that's you telling the rest of the league like we don't really care about how you rank your board.
We do our thing. They did that.
And then they traded up again in the fourth round. And they took a player that played safety and running back out of Utah.
And it's kind of a hybrid. But, like, they traded up.
Like, that's the kind of stuff when you're like, all right, you know what? We're just going to go for it. We're going to do it our way.
And, you know, how the Lions are such, like, a vibe right now. And they're all wearing the dad campbell jerseys that's one of those where the lions are feeling themselves a little bit they're like we're right there we're gonna take some bold picks we're gonna make some bold moves and the rest of the league they can bitch and whine and moan and make their comments but like we believe what we've built in this building because we've done it we've built it from the ground up so yeah they deserve a heat check yeah they were they were feeling themselves this draft quite a bit yeah um so important question how is goodell doing i know he got his back blown out a couple months ago right and he he got hugged pretty hard up on stage did he tell well like was there a word that went out to some of the the guys that were in the green room like don't hug me my back got blown out i think he had back he had an operation done i think and then mims the big kid or was it latham it was latham from the titans just came right in and just jacked him up and i i saw no pain wincing he was walking around night too so i think he's fine but you have to wonder if the kids knew that in that moment they're like you know what screw it i've been watching this on for 20 years.
I'm hoisting that guy up. I'm going for it.
I'm doing it anyway. He can deal with it.
But yeah, I think he's okay. Yeah.
All right. I have a couple last questions.
The first one is the Spencer Rattler story. That was crazy.
That teams were like, yeah, we didn't like how he came across as a high schooler in a Netflix show.

Or I don't even think it might have been just a YouTube show. That's nuts.
Like, everyone's a shithead when they're 17 years old. Like, teams were actually judging him that way and being like, everything he's done since.
Were you aware of this show before? Yeah. Yeah, we knew about this show.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spencer Rattler, when he got to college, he was very hyped up at Oklahoma because he was the guy that everyone hated from QB1.
Yeah, he was kind of the heel. He came across in that show definitely like he had a sense of entitlement.
But again, he's a high school kid. That has been like his life has been laser focused at being quarterback.
Ian's report, because we tossed him. Okay, so first of all, he's a day three quarterback i i i've said this before like i i don't want to ever criticize a kid or anything but when you watch the draft on nfl network and on espn if there's anything i want to say it's every player when they're taken a lot of times it's like oh this kid's amazing everything's an all-american like there's no so spencer rattler when all the six quarterbacks go we're like who's the next quarterback and all of a sudden it becomes the focal point and it's like could he go early second is he gonna he was a day three quarterback in september he was a day three quarterback in october he was a day three quarterback in february and he's a day three quarterback in march probably and that's nothing against him but when you're now the focal point because you're the last or the last quarterback everyone knows, you're going to go there.
So we're talking about Spencer Rattler nonstop on the broadcast. And it's actually becoming good theater because now it goes from fourth round to now early fifth round.
And Ian comes into the broadcast and he's had a whole report on Rattler. And at the end of it, he said what he said, where he's like, you know, there hasn't been any conversations that I've had or that show on Rattler where that show doesn't come up.
And I'm not doubting Ian's report. Charles Davis then comes on and is like, yeah, but the last two years since he got to South Carolina, he's matured.
And that's when that part doesn't come out. Ian's report comes out.
And like, what's? Strawman? I don't even know what it is. Literally, any person who's met Spencer Rattler in our sports media world came like a rise to arms in defense of Spencer Rattler.
And I'm like, all right, see this coming. I'll tell you, honestly, I didn't do a ton of work on Spencer Rattler.
I've heard things about his game and all that stuff. But I was vaguely aware of the...
I'll just say this. I didn't do enough stuff because i do the first round mock draft i didn't do enough on him to give you a personal take on whether or not that conversation piece came up but i would trust ian that if that showed up it was probably six in the conversation of here's what it's throwing motion here's about his leadership here's about is it and then oh yeah did you see the reality show i'm sure it did come up it also it also is we get those stories uh on day three where it's like a quarterback goes and it's almost like you need some nugget to remind everyone the draft's still going on they're like oh yeah spencer rattler just got drafted and i was like i looked i was like oh shit yeah yeah we are in the fifth round right now fifth round yeah there's a lot of that i mean like we love it on our you know i'm doing rounds four five six seven yesterday and i'll tell you like when those international guys get taken when that kid from the lions goes when a punter or kicker gets taken it's like a jolt of enthusiasm yeah i know right something different right oh right they took the iowa punter let's go i mean that was that might have been a heat check for ryan poles too where he's like the australian guy does pick, and he's wearing a Jack Seaborn jersey.
This guy's great. You take a punter when you're – like, it's the last piece for a Super Bowl roster.
Well, I mean, you might be best player available, the Iowa punter. It's like that dude, he's got a lot of experience.
There were, like, arguments. You know, like, I actually kind of like the pick just because people were like, this draft is not that deep because of NIL and a lot of guys staying and not underclassmen and everything.
He was a really fucking good punter, and the Bears punter sucked last year. Dan, a question for you.
Is Caleb Williams having a heat check? He did this thing where he's like, the Bears. He does the hand claw.
The hand claw? claw yeah which bear man's been doing for a long time um i yeah he's got a he's got he's doing a little heat check listen i people keep asking me they're like do you think he's too eccentric or goofy it's like if he's good none of it will matter it's it's basically comes in because it's after like if he's not good people will blame people will blame the nails yeah they'll say that like, he's too crazy. He's too unique.
And if he's good, no one will give a fuck because no one in that locker room will care anything if he can ball, which I think he can't. If he's good, it'll actually be the opposite.
People will be like, this guy is so funny. Yeah, I also think he is truly just the first, like, true Gen Z quarterback that we have.
Like, I think there'll be more Caleb Williams coming up where it's, kids that are of this age that were born on the internet that are like unique personalities. I just think it will happen more.
I think, I think he's a, a tremendous addition to the league. And I'm not saying in any, like in like any, not in a, oh, he's going to say ridiculous.
I think, I think he's a real personality and he's unique. Like we haven't had this before before and he did the thing with the bears then that whole controversy about the pablo torrey podcast where the gentleman i think flemings his name came on and was like a gm compared him to prince playing quarterback and everyone was outraged it was a compliment yeah we said that i'm like i actually 100 see a gm actually saying that because it is some of the things that he he is different's yeah it's refreshing to me so then he also said like they did something and I was just reading the transcript but he's like I'm coming for 12 like I love it it's like 12 is Brady it's like all right yeah yeah why not and let's go and and the Prince thing was so funny because it was so like front office GM guy where like he's like oh Prince is a weirdo it's like if you call him Bruce Springsteen then we're talking it's like Prince is one of the greatest musicians of all time if he's if he has a career that is comparable to Prince in the NFL he will win like multiple Super Bowls Jeff Lynn of quarterbacks deep cut yeah so yeah I'm so excited I think he's going to be awesome I a really good player.
Like, all the other stuff doesn't – I'm just going to defend him. I'm ready to defend him on every turn.
Yeah. I'm excited for it.
The Prince thing is a head-scratcher because, like, anybody that's ever listened to Prince is like – well, Prince rocks. Yeah, Prince rocks.
He's looking at Prince as, like, the dad of a young kid that's starting to listen to music, and the music confuses him. Yeah.
It's like, I don't know about this Prince nonsense. Yeah.
Yeah. Like the parents and like the Beastie Boys, like, you know, the right to party video.
Like, yeah. Like Prince.
Shut that up. Get that out of here.
Yeah. Shut that loud music.
At the combine, I spoke to him for a while and I'm friendly with Kingsbury. Kingsbury's like, no, he's a he's like you'll love him like he's he's cool so talking to him and he showed up friday night at the combine and quarterbacks don't do anything till saturday and he'd already said he's not doing anything and everyone's up in arms over it showed up friday night and he's wearing this big sweatshirt where it says like quarterback 11 whatever it was and i go up and i sidle up next to him we're talking for a while and i'm like'm like, oh, I'm friendly with Lincoln Riley, friendly with Cliff.
Great to meet you. All this stuff.
Do my usual spiel. And I'm like, why are you here? He's like, oh, I forgot the kid's name.
I'm sure he was drafted. He's like, this corner's competing tonight.
I wanted to see him do his 40 and do all this stuff. I've never seen a quarterback show up on Friday night of the combine to watch a teammate work out.
It's the first time I've ever seen it. And I don't think it's him acting.
He wasn't doing it for cameras. So I'm like, all right.
And then I've spoken to a lot of the Bears guys about him. And it's like he moves.
I forget the term they said. He moves quietly.
He's got this great presence, but he's not loud. He's just like he moves.
He's just cool.

He's assured with who he is.

Yeah.

You can feel the confidence.

Super comfortable.

Right.

And just like so comfortable in his own skin.

So you take that and like teammates at you and Kingsbury will tell you like teammates

at USC love the kid.

Yeah.

Love them.

Like and that's from top to bottom.

So that's all I need.

Yeah.

Prince or not.

Yeah. So Pete, you've done a great job picking the Super Bowl bowl what the last five years or is it four years three years three years oh no it's getting smaller every week smaller they caught me um i came on your podcast at five years the truth of the matter is i've had the matchup in the matchup or the right winner the last five years but we went back and checked the tape and it's been i had the chiefs beating the buccaneers in that covid one which kills me and then there's another one where i had the other team winning but i've had rams chiefs chiefs the last two three years let's just go with that's pretty impressive i want to give you a chance to spread your wings a little bit give me a third round pick that was taking the draft that you think is going to be the guy next year we're like ah how do they like the puka nakua who's the who's the puka nakua of this year's draft could be any position you know who okay so that's a the running back on the dolphins who they traded up to get in the fourth round jalen wright out of tennessee okay i don't know how it works in fantasy football because they have a chan and they have mostert and they have some and achman they have all these guys this jalen right averaged eight yards a carry at tennessee is as fast as they come and is like was supposed to go on day two and was supposed to go early day three they trade up to get him and if i know mike mcdaniel which i think i know fairly well like that's his pick written all over it they traded up to get him again depth chart be damned there will be plays where jalen wright the running back from the dolphins like has an 80 yard scamper does something crazy and the way they do their offense like all those running backs will touch the ball so jalen wright fourth round pick dolphins That's my okay all right uh i got one last question uh it's a rowback question rhoback.com promo code take 20 off your first purchase q zips polos hoodies joggers shorts rowback.com uh you knew i had to ask this you know i have to ask this your boy david te Come on.
I thought of you right away. Come on.
Going into – Listen, I've watched the tape many, many times. I do not think it was an aggressive move, but – Ball busting.
Even still, pulling the hat off another man's head, that can be seen as an aggression. Just going in there, though and being bothered by that well i mean you are the number one david tepper uh defender what's going on stand what's going on again beats marches to the beat of his own jump goes in there sees a sign that says stay out of the draft room the night before he was feeling good they they traded back into the first round.
They got Xavier Leggett, who, by the way, has one of the best press conferences. Yeah, he's awesome.
Was feeling himself, but couldn't resist. Saw that sign, had to go in and just – he's a man of the community down there.
He just wanted to make sure – Oh, that's what it was. He wanted to do small business.
Yeah. He used to scream small business.
He screams Carolina native. That's what he screams.
Okay. Yeah.
It was. I have no defense.
It was weird. I think it was.
It was weird. It was probably.
It was probably playful. A lot more playful than the drink situation.
But yeah. Look.
People are up in arms over it. I think he likes it.
I think he likes it. I think it's like he's just playing around.
He's having fun.'s his team and again we'll never be pushed around and we'll never be uh be a wilting flower in the corner of the room he's gonna have his voice heard yeah it was it was a weird move but i think every other restaurant in the charlotte area should just put out signs like that and just hope that he stops it like it should be his thing where he david tepper if he sees a sign disparaging him will come in and get into an argument with you. In a world of like protest on college campuses and like real life, that's such a very niche specific thing to put on a sign in front of your restaurant.
Like it is so specific. I'm like, I so appreciate that.
Like keep the owner out of the draft room. I'm like, God, you know, of all the causes.
Yeah. Let's go.
We got to do. Yeah.
We'll put a sign on. We'll post a tweet on part of my take.
David temper. You won't come on this podcast.
You won't. We wear hats all the time.
Yeah. If you take it, if you take it, if you took my hat off, it would have gone down different.
Oh, but I would have fucking I would have been I would have been like Cam Newton when he's getting jumped and that hat doesn't go anywhere. Great referee.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, Schraggs, thank you as always.

You're the best.

Get some sleep, and we'll talk to you later on this summer when we get football coming back.

You guys are the best.

I so appreciate the invite.

And the Bears, the Commanders, the Patriots, and the Eagles

all got better this weekend.

Yeah.

Love it.

Love it. Thank you for saying that.
I appreciate it. All right.
See you, Shrakes. Peter Schrager was brought to you by our great friends over at Chevy.
As everyone knows, this is a Chevy truck podcast. Chevy trucks are the greatest trucks ever built.
And our good friends at Chevy have been a big part of the part of my take story. The Silverado helped us dig the biggest hole ever done in Ohio during Grit Week.
It took us to the big game out in L.A. We drove from Connecticut all the way across the country.
Silverado got us there, and it has partnered with us to give college fullbacks all the rightful recognition that they deserve with the Loman Award. Loman Trophy Award winner Ben Sinnott, Washington Commander.
Very excited about that.

Chevy was there for that award.

Chevy Silverado, the longtime awesome partner of the show,

a truck with commanding and unstoppable grit,

legendary capability, dependability too.

So you can find out for yourself like so many other AWLs,

head to Chevy.com, check out all the Chevy truck grit,

build your own Silverado,

check out what current offers are out there during Chevy truck season.

For do-it-yourself road trips, projects,

off-road adventures, tailgates,

We're going to talk about this. truck grit build your own silverado check out what current offers are out there during chevy truck season for do-it-yourself road trips projects off-road adventures tailgates whatever your thing is it all starts with a chevy truck and now here's alex caruso and now for something completely different okay we now welcome on uh our good friend alex caruso probably the quickest back-to-back yeah a little thirsty on your part a little thirsty on your part but this is to explain to the audience so the first time we had Alex on was like three weeks ago awesome interview talking a lot about his career Caruso's here for another three days before he goes back to Texas for the summer and I was like well he knows basketball let's talk some basketball let's talk more current what's going on in the playoff series.
Like, I'm down.

Also might have been because we have a golf simulator.

And Tuesday he texted me and was just like, hey, can I come hit balls on a random day?

I was like, yes.

We're going to get you a key card.

So first question, tough question.

You just played 18 with Hank.

Did you win?

Yeah, I did.

I did win.

By how many strokes?

I don't know what the final difference was. I did finish one under.
I birdied 18. Oh, Hank.
Did you win? Yeah, I did. I did win.
By how many strokes? I don't know what the final difference was. I did finish one under.
I birdied 18. Oh, Hank.
Did you finish even? Hank? We can't hear you, Hank. You only lost by one, Hank? Yeah, add a five to that.
Six. You lost by six? One five.
Oh, you were 15 over? Yeah. And he was one under? Yeah.
Oh, no. 16.
It's interesting because you've played, what, 36 holes today? I have, yeah. Yeah.
I was fresh. That's probably the excuse.
Okay. Yeah.
So, Hank, if you took your best 18 holes that you played today, would you have beaten them? No. Wow.
Wow. That's pretty impressive.
I had a good day. I do have an important question.
I'm glad that you're in the studio today because we need to get to the bottom of something. I figured you might have some insight into it.
Who's the guy that the Lakers have on staff that steals all the opponent's shoes when they come to town and lets them not have them for a shoot? Do you know who did that? Is there one guy where you're like, yep. That must be a new hire.
Yeah, they must have serviced somebody out once I left and used all that money they didn't give me to hire somebody. I love that.
I love Coach Malone after the game being like, I'm not an excuses guy, but you can point to the fact that we were wearing flip-flops in our shoot-around. Would that actually fuck you up? I mean, to be honest, if you have a routine, it might.
You know, like if you're a big – if somebody's superstitious and you've got to get your – you've got to have your routine and you've got to do this. But, like, there's been games where I shoot before the game.
I'll go out and shoot five free throws, ten free throws just because I'm tired and need to save my energy for the game, and I go out and play great. And then there's some nights I do that and I don't play good.
So if you're not a big excuses guy, no. But what are you going to say? You lose your first game, you're probably going to.
I feel like there are some guys that have such a pattern, a routine that they get into, where something like that might mess with their head a little bit or at least shake their confidence. Like if you do everything on game day the exact same way and then something that small can like mix you up a little bit, maybe you got there, you're not like.
You're mentally weak then. But yeah, you're mentally weak.
And also you probably. Or you just care too much.
Yeah. A real warrior like me, myself, I don't think it would impact my shooting at all.
No, you probably do better. I'd go from five to all your makes and warm ups.
You'd save them for the game. Exactly.
All right. So let's let's start with that series because we the Lakers did win a game, which was huge.
First time in 11 games. I want to say I was I was a little nervous that if they got swept, what the energy would be when I came in yeah so I was well I mean we have had this we it's rare that this podcast is on the right side of history when it comes to playoffs or whatever you know we we predict things poorly most of the time we have been dead on with this series where it's every game's the same the nuggets go down and then they come back and they win and they snatch the lakers so in ad and lebron play like great games and no one else shows up so what is it about that matchup that gives the lakers so much like trouble well the denver is just built so perfect around joker right like they they got they got length athleticism shooting and then like joker man he you saw the one pass where he was going over his head that pass it was it was my the basketball you know purist and me got so excited when i saw that because it's just like i would you would love to play with a guy like that you know if you just get to the right spot you're gonna get the ball and like they got i mean they got shooting all around him jamal murray's the perfect compliment to him playing off of him and like the pinch post getting layups and then defensively they they're just you know they're locked in together like they might not have the best individual defenders like kcp's a really good defender aaron gordon's a really good defender but outside of that the team just has team defense good team defense yeah and the chemistry that was phenomenal so yokich like it does feel like he's playing the game on easy mode like that pass specifically watching that it's it's a joke like watching him be able to do that and he's almost toying with them when you're going up against a guy like that can you tell when a guy's like feeling it to the level of like it's just everything is easier for him than anyone else on the court yeah those that's those are the nights where you hope that you're not playing and you hope that you're watching yeah you're like you're watching on tv because when you're playing man that's like a guy of that caliber who already doesn't really care you know and then when he tries it's like all right what are we going to do tonight because the whole thing with him is make him score make him score and it's like well you know if he gets 12 assists and 15 rebounds and then make him score now all of a sudden he's got 20 something got 20-something points.
It's asking a lot for the other guys to not get their numbers and try to win a game. Yeah, it just seems like he doesn't think when he's out there.
He just moves. He just knows.
And he just knows. Yeah, exactly.
He knows ahead of time, like, okay, my instinct is to do this, so I'm just going to go with my instinct. And he ends up becoming like a really smart basketball player the less he has to think about it, which is crazy to watch.
That one play where the ball goes over his head, he goes from like ducking because he thinks the ball might hit him in his head to, oh, shit, here's the ball. And then just hits it.
Split second, that guy's open. I know he's there.
He hits it like a balloon. I even think the duck was kind of like a fake out.
You think so? Yeah, I think he's playing on that easy mode. If he knew the ball was coming over the head, then I popped to him.
He's on such an easy mode that even the mistakes, I'm like, oh, he did that on purpose. Yeah, I mean, he just makes it.
And that's part of like he's got the poker face, right? Right. He looks like he doesn't care.
We know that he doesn't kind of care. He obviously wants to win, but he's thinking about his horses back home the whole time.
Yeah, dude, when a player doesn't have any stress and they're really good like it's gonna be a long night long series the lakers have been talking about some of the adjustments that they've made uh the nuggets were finally asking questions like what adjustments are you gonna make you was like uh you know i'm not gonna tell you like why do i even share that with you but when you're when you're making adjustments in the middle middle of a series, what's that like in terms of your coach communicating what you're going to do differently to you guys? Is there a text that gets sent out like when he's watching film at 2 a.m. that morning just trying to get over that loss? Or is it just, okay, come in and then get into the office and then here's what we cooked up overnight? Yeah, it'll be more like that, the second one.
It'll be more a little direct and thought out rather than just like a text message, hey, next game we're going to double them in the post or something like that. Like they'll go back and watch the film.
And most of the time it's not even schemes, it's like more matchups, right, or like minutes. Like they'll try and make sure that they bring a certain player in whenever the other guy's best player's in.
Or if the team goes small, they might throw two bigs out to try and do something like that but yeah a lot of that is is either overnight or over the course of the day and a lot of times too the first couple games coaches don't want to make too many adjustments right like you you want to you want to play it out because this is like the plan they go with and then after like maybe game two you're like all right we got to switch some stuff up yeah what about so the heat i know they're down to one now hank they the heat actually have already accomplished a great thing this playoffs they've retired cocky hank uh he's he's he's not gonna be cocky for the rest of the playoffs but it feels like every year spoh does something something to get the most out of this team.

What is it like when you're playing the Heat, do you have in the back of your mind like Spoh's going to do something that I probably haven't seen or like they're going to throw something at us that we haven't seen on tape?

Maybe you could just explain.

It's just a dumb question.

How do you quantify a coach like Spoh and what he's able to get out of this Heat team?

Yeah, a lot of it I think is nurturing and cultivating, like getting the best out of the players. A lot of times with him, he's so intense and he's such a competitor.
When that's the lead dog between him and then Jimmy, obviously, and Jimmy's not playing, but he's still the voice and he's around, it's hard not to raise your level to that uh and you know a lot of times people talk about like their culture like that's a big buzzword for them and for you know Miami Heat in general like the people that they draft and bring into their organization all fit the mold of like all right like dog mentality like we're gonna play hard like we might have a couple deficiencies we'll work on that we can get through that but that. But for the most part, I know what I'm going to bring night in, night out.

And then, yeah, he does a good job of scheming different things.

Against us, they put Bam on DeMar the whole game,

and he was basically playing a guard spot on the outside.

And it just kind of stalled us out a little bit.

But you see in the Boston series, there's just a lot of isolation.

It's hard to scheme against that when they have so many different guys right go get a bucket or create for the other guys right yeah i mean i that yeah i didn't want to bring up the end of the bowl season but that was like bam going on tomorrow it's like you you don't think that's going to happen because bam's usually you know relied on it was the first game this year we didn't play with jimmy so like it was the first time like and we we kind of predicted like we we We figured they were going to do that, maybe him or Caleb, but once we get into the – you're in the heat of the battle, it's a one-game series. Right.
Then the playoffs where you're going seven games. We're like, all right, coach is going to watch the film and we'll come back next game.
And do something different. Yeah.
I would definitely be a bad coach. I would watch the film.
I'd be up all night. I'd just be like firing text people.
Play harder, guys. That are definitely asleep.
Yeah. Like, hey, here's what we're going to do.
And then when they got in the next day, be like, look at that Texas, didn't you? That's our adjustment. I'd be a very bad coach.
I think I would just start every single. Yeah.
Let's not overthink this. That's what I would say every single practice or before every game.
It's a make or miss league. So fucking make your shots.
I say that throughout the year multiple times. Just make your shots.
We played great tonight. We didn't make shit.
Yeah. I would say you guys, you have to want it more than they do.
That was always my favorite thing when I was a kid. That's coach speak.
Yeah, that's great coach speak. I love it.
And in reality, I think there might be some truth to that in the New York-Philadelphia series, where it looks like New York does want it more. They just play with like a – I mean, they play all year though you know like it's not it's not it's nothing new yeah it's it's Tibbs but and then same thing like you know Hartenstein plays like that regardless Josh Hart plays like that regardless Steven Chinzo OG like they all fit that mold of how they want to play and they did a good job of bringing players in to to fit that uh and then Jalen Brunson is just on a you know he's been on a tear all year but especially postseason there's not a great matchup for him in the league but for sure i don't i mean philly hasn't found one yet that that they've found that can slow him down at all yeah and it feels like uh and you tell me like what happens when a team out rebounds another team like that so much like the offensive glass you can even say for the bucks uh pacers series too where it feels like the pacers are just they want it more on the glass what is the fix to that is it like do you guys actually have to go into the you know the day off and be like hey you got a box out like this is team rebounding or how do you fix it it's crazy like the thing like the simplest the simplest parts of basketball right games and right you forget forget that that's the stuff that's important.
That's why Minnesota is such a good defensive team. They got 7-something, 6'11", Jalen McDaniels 6'9", Nas Reed 6'10", coming off the bench.
Anthony Edwards is 6'6". They rebound the ball when they get stops.
You don't get second chances. It's impossible to score on them if you don't shoot well.
Right. Yeah, that's one of the things too, though.
It's like you got to box out to get the ball. If they keep getting shots, eventually they're going to make them.
The pros, it's in the playoffs, so they care. So they're going to try really hard.
If you don't get the rebounds, you're not going to win games. And it's one of those things where it's like your habits come to light.
Right. If you haven't done it all year, you going to start doing it when it's time to time to win it's tough to turn it on how often during the season is boxing out like talked about i mean we talked about we were a small team so we had to talk about it because if we just tried to jump with people like we would get killed on the glass um but but for us i mean that's that's a pretty normal thing and that's hard thing you know once you get to like professional sports if you're serious about winning and the coach talks about that stuff you know like not turning the ball over setting good screens not fouling rebounding like boxing out like those are the things like you'll you'll watch as the teams advance in the playoffs like they do all that little shit that wins basketball games yeah at the end of the day you can make as many shots and do all that but, but you're going to have to get some stops.
You're going to have to do the stuff that wins games. Yeah, all right, dumb question.
And I've noticed this happens a lot in the NBA these days where, and maybe this is you tell me this is just defensive philosophy. We're doing it no matter what, but switching everything.
When a team switches everything, you'll sometimes see the other team. They won't even set real screens.
They'll just kind of flash and then you'll get a switch yeah what is is that that's crazy to me like even I I was saying it about the uh Jamal Murray game winner like no one really came and set a pick on LeBron but they switched it and Anthony Davis is an incredible defender so it's not a bad switch but what what is that like I feel like you're giving something up when you just immediately concede the switch uh even without making the other team set that pick yeah part of that is is personnel based like obviously that one with ad like you feel pretty confident right in that late game and they're probably like sometimes teams have switching partners all right oh it's hot i like that real team camaraderie yeah yeah that guy. Wait, who's your switching partner? I mean, any guard.
But most of the time, I do a good job of trying to keep the match up. You fight through it.
Yeah, because I don't want to let this guy try to go against my teammate. That's my job.
Right. I'm first team all defense.
Let me go guard this guy. But that was kind of when teams started going small and started switching everything, the slip screens and the go screens became a big deal, just trying to cause confusion basically.
Right, just standing there for a second and then going to the rim. And I get this guy to open up his hips, and then that guy gets the hell out of the way, and I can go downhill and create the advantage where it used to be, all right, big guy, come set the screen.
Now I'll come off and get downhill at the other big. But teams are going small, get more shooting space out the floor and when you do that like Indiana that's that's their offense like they play fast and they just set they they're one of their main plays is action called pistol action where it's just a guard to guard step up on the sideline all right setting a flat screen to the baseline and that guy majority of the time slips out and Tyrese Halliburton or TJ McConnell just dribbles as fast as they can gets to the baseline and it's it's a really hard action to guard because they're playing so fast right right what what what do you do like what are the rules in when you're playing against a team that's just running a pick and roll over and over and it's a lob to the like even that Mavericks uh the Mavericks Clippers game James Harden was just on fire with his floater.
And it felt like the Mavs – and it might have been because of Luka's fifth foul, but it also felt like Jason Kidd might have had different personnel in there. It might have been better.
But, like, what are the rules when you're getting just beat to death with a pick and roll, whether it be floaters or lobs at the rim, and you can't stop it? Yeah, depending on, like, what the coverage is for the teams like that might be what they're willing to give up right you know like obviously we're not in dallas's meetings like we don't know what they're doing but like james harden is one of the few guys on their team that can create for other guys like anytime that they have a good game this year he's got eight nine ten double digit assists so like for me that might be something where i'm thinking all they're going to live with him taking floaters contested and they just didn't do a good enough job in the shots. Yeah.
You know, and it's one of those things where, you know, coach is going to go watch and see like, all right, do we think he can do that again? Yes. We need to change something up.
If not, you know, you kind of live with it. Yeah.
I mean, it's a great answer because it's like he went 12 for 17.

And it's like, okay, yeah, maybe that's exactly what they wanted to do.

They didn't give, you know, they didn't give Zubak, Plumlee, you know,

dunks in corner threes whenever you bring the low guy over.

So that might be something they're working on.

They also could have just fucked up the coverage.

The big guy was supposed to be there, and they kept messing it up.

And that's something where in the playoffs you can't have happen.

Yeah.

And I do think Luka having the fifth foul, like he was very passive once.

See you next time. fucked up the coverage right the big guy was supposed to be there and they kept messing it up and that's something where in the playoffs you can't have happen so yeah and i do think luca having the fifth foul like he was very passive once he got his fifth not that he's like an elite defender no for sure but he was very much like he was gonna let whatever happened like i'm just gonna stay in the game and we'll try to find enough stops right in a game like that when you when you get up big like huge in the first two quarters is it is it more of mentality in the playoffs of like let's try to keep our foot on the gas or is it let's play smart because i feel like every team if you give up a big comeback you're like oh we should have kept our foot on the gas but i feel like sometimes it is smarter like to to start slowing things down and to not like you know to play like possession baseball where it's like we're not going to give you enough possessions to to back.
I think you still got to play aggressive, you know, whether that is, you know, playing fast and taking the opportunities in transition, but also being smart and like realizing when you have to come back out, play against a set defense. But I mean, if you if you punt too many times and like we say punt like in football, you give possession back.
So if you don't do anything late clock there's six seconds now you go isolation you take step back middies or step back threes now you're giving them defensive rebounds like that's a hard way to live to try and make all those shots so for me i i like just staying aggressive foot on the foot on the gas and go in the whole game because at a certain point you know it's it's there's not enough possessions they're gonna have to start taking more threes they're gonna have to try and switch up defense maybe trap something and now you're getting open shots like for me it's it's stay aggressive because if you let off the gas at all and then they get momentum like dallas did right you know clippers were lucky to hang on to that game yeah because dallas had the foul trouble i think that the two main guys kind kind of had to pull the reins back a little defensively. Yeah.
All right. I want to talk about three teams that are kind of under the – not under the radar, but they don't get talked about a lot because they're not the Lakers or the Celtics or the Knicks or the Sixers.
But the Thunder, the Magic, and the Wolves. They're three of the, I think, four best defensive teams in the NBA.
And you saw it with the magic. That was insane what they did to the Cavs.
The Cavs scored 18 total points in a 20-minute stretch in the second half. What is it about those teams that they're doing so much better than everyone else defensively? Because I love, personally, when we get to the playoffs, it's like defense still matters.
And you get to actually watch teams like, oh, we can shut you down and get you out of everything you want to do. Yeah, I mean one of the statistics that people look at when you try to find championship teams, top 10 defense, top 10 offense.
Yeah. And a lot of times the teams with the offenses will kind of sneak in there and they have a puncher's chance, but the teams that defend are the ones in the playoffs, like we just talked about.
You've got to get stops. Best players in the world, right? Best players in the world are trying their hardest to win the game.
So eventually you're going to have to get some stops because if not, they'll just keep scoring. And all those teams, you know, they've got a little bit of youth on their side.
Yeah. They play really hard all the time.
You know, they don't take possessions off. And then they got size and length at the rim, and they got guys that can speed you up on the outside.
That's a key. You know, that's what our 2020 championship team with the Lakers, like we had guards that were just hounding pestering guys, and then we sent them into the lane to our 3-7 footers.
Yeah. You know, it's like how are you going to score like that like you got to be really decisive and and really smart about how you attack those those teams and you know if you don't do it you know enough times in a row all of a sudden they went on a 10-0 run now you're playing behind the eight ball and it's really tough yeah because it does i mean it is kind of a chick not a chicken and egg because it does feel like you need the rim protector is the number one thing but like the magic for example their guard like Suggs is is big and he's long and he just he gets in your face is that because he knows he has that help behind him and that like those work together every time those two things really play off each other you know I think I mean that's it's you know you saw with us like we don't have three seven footers to send guys into but like a point-of-attack guy.
Our guards did a really good job of trying to get over screens and limit activity. You kind of have to play like that regardless.
If you're guarding, for his sake, you're guarding Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, guys can shoot threes, guys can get into the lane, good free-throw shooters. There's not a whole lot they can't do offensively, so if you just just let them play comfortably they're going to kind of pick you apart yeah so i think it starts you have to play like that out on the guards and then it just is an added bonus that they got guys at the rim yeah that's why rudy gobert i mean that that makes everything go for the timberwolves where they're just like yeah we can just send you to rudy gobert you're not going to score he's super aggressive user length and then if you get beat the rim you got a safety.
Yeah he at least will make you alter your shot or you're going to think about him. Who's the number one guy that you would think about like when you're going into the paint? Wimby.
Wimby? You're like oh shit. It's already there.
Because he can block. Y'all saw the clips this year like there were guys that were on fast breaks and like he's a step behind him and they just dribbled out.
Yeah. Yeah.
He blocked guys standing on the ground. ground yeah Rudy's up there too like Rudy still has that you know that presence um but man Wimby's already just like he's he's so he's so long man he was like at the free throw line there's a guy starting to take a three he takes one step and blocks it yeah it's just crazy why why do people not like Rudy Gobert is it because he's French I don't know I don't.
I think French might have something to do with it. There's plenty of French guys that like.
They like Wimby. They like Tony Parker.
I think people like Tony Parker. I don't think people hate Nick Batum.
I don't think it's a mandatory French thing. Yeah.
I think it's probably the flame outs in the playoffs. Maybe it's when he gave everybody COVID.
Yeah, maybe. He's always pretty vocal, too.
And it it's yeah people don't always love that from defensive guys you know like think about any defensive player that was like super outgoing and vocal like that if he wasn't on your team everybody kind of hates that guy right yeah right like that's just kind of the status quo for how that goes i think that's probably where where it comes in it's because like he he stops you from scoring and then he talks a lot about it but then he won't score on offense and you're like what the fuck like why you're not scoring either yeah yeah that that that rubs a lot of nba players the wrong way because nba players are all focused on scoring like yeah i think it's like i'm gonna go get a bucket like you can't stop me you get a couple stops and guy talk shit yeah have you noticed any difference in how the refs are officiating the game in the playoffs yeah Yeah, it's interesting, man. I was thinking about this.
It's like they go through a threshold at the beginning, like playing first couple games, and then all of a sudden it kind of reverts back because it gets so grotesque of a viewing experience. There's guys just hammering each other.
The guys are going into the lane. I think about the Warriors-Kings playing game.
I don't know if you all saw that game. Dude, they were playing football.
And it was obvious fouls that weren't getting called. And then today I saw James Harden did a stop – we call it a stop and shot where guys on his side and they stop really fast and the guy touches them.
And it was minimal contact contact and they called a foul and it's just stuff like that where it's like i you you want it to be one way or another or at least a happy medium like i just feel like it it starts off the playoffs everyone knows it's like all right it's tightened up like there's no real body like you can kind of you can kind of arm bar again like if you go in and they hit a little bit arm like they're not going to call it but then they kind of soften up like a couple games yeah it's like all right we got to get back to the production of what we want to want i also think they just don't they don't take as many of like the cheap ones which i appreciate like kyle lowry today that was one of the funniest things you see that when i think maybe it was brunson fell down and he he tried to he tried to like jump and trip himself while shooting and it was ridiculous savvy that he got the call yeah I know he got the call but that's like I saw dive forward and shot from where his waist I saw a statistic too that there was like eight flopping calls called in the first couple weeks of season and then there was like two called in the last that's how it happens in the NFL they always do that they'll do a new rule for like a month and then yeah wow you know they get people to stop yeah there's a lot at stake if you say that a guy flopped in a playoff game and if you're wrong like if it wasn't a flop and you're going for it yeah how how weird is it watching these playoffs and and i know that we're in the middle of these series we're watching the the uh suns uh timbrels game right now obviously the lakers won on sat, so they're still alive. But we could have a playoffs where Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Steph Curry are not in the second round.
Can you feel it shifting? Like the league is – This is probably the first postseason where you actually see it. Yeah.
Like even last year, like, you know, those guys still were around. Like obviously, Golden State was really good.
Lakers made it to the conference finals. It's just, dude, the young guys, man.
Like, Ann is like of that old school nature. Like, talk shit, back it up, talk more shit behind it.
Which I love, like, the competitive spirit of it. Because, you know, you see a little bit of the, like, not buddy-buddy.
But it's but it's not as always you know cutthroat during the year yeah and for me it's like win or go home every night right i'm trying to win the game like i'm friends with a lot of guys in the league like after the games i'll say what's up like good to see you i'm gonna be pissed if we lose and i'm not gonna be as happy and as excited to see them but at the end of the day like i want to win like i'm not going to not try or not – I'm not going to back up or slow my roll because I'm playing against my friend, and I feel like that's how he brings it every night, and he's got the game to back it up, or sometimes I don't. Yeah.
I might talk a good game, but at the end of the day, I need some help. It's cool to watch, like him and SGA and some of these younger guys where it's like, this might be this is kind of what the league's gonna look like yeah i mean even luke luke is still young yeah there's so many you know paulo bencaro looks he looked amazing game three you know if he if he could ever develop like a high 30s three-point shot the dude is gonna be amazing yeah so of all the young guys like second year a rookie who is the one that you've got your eye on is it is it paolo we'll put chat yeah chat chat although was he technically a rookie this year he was technically a rookie yeah he'd still be second year yeah um dude honestly yet chats can be really good people haven't talked about him enough just because you know the The commercial really talked about.
Commercial. I've now done like a full circle on the commercial where it comes on.
I'm like, oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right, yeah. What a pro wants.
No, but like he's going to be really good. Like we played him so early.
We played him twice early in the year. So like he hadn't figured it out yet.
And then watching him later in the year, man, you can tell guys that get better through the year. He's going to be really good still think man when when wimby figures it out it's gonna be trouble yeah he's he's just physically you're gonna it's gonna be like the it's gonna be like how teams had to had to match up with lebron for like a stretch of like a decade where it's like you need a couple guys on your team that are six seven to six ten long and can move a little for him, it's going to be like 6'9 to like 70 foot.
Yeah. It's going to be scary.
With Wimby, what's one thing about playing against him that we don't get as fans watching the game? We can obviously see his defense and what he can do, the places he can come from to block a shot that seem impossible. But is there something about his game that playing against him is different and you can tell already like this is going to be a problem just just how much space he absorbs while he's out there like even on off even on a on offense for him like if if a guard comes off a screen from him or like somebody who's guarding him helps just a little bit and like there's a he's within 10 feet of the basket like he's going get the ball and he's gonna he's gonna score like if you don't have a guy that's seven foot that's right next to him like he pretty much is just grabbing the ball and lays it in or dunks it and then like you said defensively like he he can he can cover so much ground and like he he set records this year for like blocks and and steals i want to say and he's just playing off instincts.
Yeah. He doesn't even know guys.
He doesn't know guys' habits yet. He doesn't know who likes to go left, who likes to pump fit.
Once he figures out people's games and how the flow of the game works, he's going to set some records. How do you stop Jalen Brunson? And what is it about Jalen Brunson that's like, why? Because, why because you know well a lot of people would tell you i don't have the answer for that like last couple yeah i mean a lot of people don't the whole league doesn't really have an answer for it but like what is it about his game that he does at elite level because he's not like he's not a he's not jumping off the page in terms of you know and all that stuff, but he's so, so effective.

He always feels like the game is in his control too.

Yeah, well, especially once Julius was out for the year.

I mean, it's just his ball every time down the court.

I'm pretty sure he had the highest usage rate post-All-Star break in the league.

Either him or Luka were one and two.

He's just deciphering where he wants to go. He's shifty.
know that's one thing he gets guys to change angles and move his body uh he's got a good first step and then he shoots it good enough off the dribble to where you have to honor it yeah it's hot you know he can make six seven in a game uh scores at three levels like his his touch and he gets in the lane plays off pivots he's making reads right like he's not getting in there and saying all right i'm gonna go do this like he's playing off of how you're guarding him which is one of the hard things for me when i'm when i'm guarding him because i'm trying to stay you know i'm trying to play like a cornerback does in football like i'm trying to mirror him and stay in front and not give up like the angle or leverage. But he's just he's a tough shot maker, too.
Yeah. So shots that he probably shouldn't make.
But so it's like consistently it's doing stuff where like he can he's watching you and being like your your weight is in the wrong spot here. And that's how I can go after you.
Yeah. Or like, you know, he pump fakes and you rise up like he said he has great footwork.'s the villanova coming out and i'm like pretty sure they what do you call it booty ball yeah booty ball yeah he's he's got that down like he had that coming out of college and now he's just refined it and added some other stuff to to his game and this is not like a point on the court where you can kind of shade him or you know corral him to that he can't find a way to get to a spot for a shot.
Yeah. It is so much fun to watch because it is like those are the players that they're not the most gifted athletically, but their footwork.
You say that. Maybe not like in the tradition.
Yeah, yeah. He's incredible.
He's not jumping out of the gym. Right.
That's what I mean, where it's not like he's jumping over guys. Yeah.
He's changed his direction and hisrated yeah and it's just a foot when a guy has footwork and i love when it's like no wasted steps yeah it's like there that's part of it too is there's no wasted movement yeah a lot of times when i'm guarding guys like if you waste movement i'm gonna i'm gonna take that as my advantage cut you off or play you into one of my teammates for him it's it's not a lot of waste he kind of reminds me actually, this leads into a question. So did you do the anonymous poll on The Athletic? Did you fill that out? I don't think they asked me this year.
Oh, really? We're trying to find out who voted Paul Pierce. Oh, I did see that.
Yeah. Was it the greatest ever? Yeah.
Yeah. Was it you? It wasn't me.
Can next year you do it? Yeah. Who should we do it random? Blake Griffin? Deli.
Oh, Deli. Yeah.
Dude, Deli is the GOAT. And we'll be like, oh, that was cool.
You respect Deli's game? Yeah, I do. Yeah.
That was like my avenue in. That was the player I had to like.
Deli walks and he could run. You were the Italian Deli.
You were the D-E-L-I. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
That was a very funny poll, though. So I – but I brought up Paul Pierce, too, because he kind of had not the same game as Jalen Brunson, but also, like, not the fastest, but there was no wasted steps.
That's his spots. Right.
Exactly. He was also – he could rise up and shoot over guys, too.
Yeah. Like 6'7", 6'8", I think.
Going to get back to Caruso in a second. He's brought to you by Pepsi.
Everything's better with Pepsi. I love Pepsi.
The zero sugar, wild cherry, delicious. The standard, also good.
Everything's better with Pepsi. Doesn't matter what you're having.
You could be eating hamburgers. I had a Pepsi with a hamburger last night.
Set it off. Made the cheeseburger 10 times better.
You can have Pepsi with Thai food. I did that on Friday night.
Great choice. You can have Pepsi with anything.
It makes everything better. If it's saucy, stretchy, crunchy, gooey, messy, Pepsi is an essential part of the most undeniably delicious food moments.
Let's just face it. Pepsi makes every bite better.
The refreshing pop of sweet, fizzy Pepsi bubbles makes even the best food taste even better. Grab a Pepsi Zero Sugar for your next meal as every crave-worthy bite better with pepsi pepsi check it out now here's more caruso you're a texas kid i want to give you an opportunity to respond to charles barkley he went after the city of galveston pretty hard the galveston beach yeah that's pretty close to college station i'm sure you've been there once or twice i've been there i'm not going to inject my personal bias into it okay do you think charles got it right about galveston or would you like to defend yeah no it's not great yeah it's not the best but like it's a beach yeah it is a beach you don't go to get in the water i'll say that no there's there's sand there's water yeah but there's also like tar and oil on the sand because people also drive their cars on the beach too it's it's it's pretty gnarly yeah no that's what it is though you go out to hang out on the beach.
You don't really, like, you're not, there's no boogie boards or, like, that stuff is. I actually have seen people boogie boarding in Galveston, but I swear to God.
People will, but you should not. You should not.
You should not. What they've done is they get these big-ass oil tankers that drive by, and the giant waves that come off of these oil tankers, people will be like, oh, shit, let's go catch a wave.
And it's just from this big-ass dirty boat. Big smell today, boy.
Yeah, exactly. I kind of agree with Charles Barkley.
Yeah, no, it's not the best. It's not known for its clean water.
Yeah, you get drunk on the beach. You drink 20 light beers in the sun on the beach.
Play some cornhole. And play some football or cornhole.
Yeah, exactly. For the vibes.
Yeah, yeah. Why do role players play better at home? Or is that just a cliche we lean on and just do confirmation bias where we're like, oh, this guy scored a bunch of points at home and then he sucked? It would be interesting to do an actual statistical analysis on that because that's the generic go-to saying.
Yeah. Oh, this guy, home game, guy's going to play better.
Alexander Walker the other night hit four or five threes in the second half on the road. I don't think that affected him too much.
I think it's person-by-person basis. Yeah, because I think it might just be the cliche we go to where it's like, all right, got to get back home, then all the role players will chip in.
Yeah, well, that's like this – like I had some of my best games this year on the road. Like I had a game at Minnesota, I set a career high in three made, a game at Indianapolis, I had like 21-7-7.
Like I played some of my better games on the road this year. Yeah.
What about – have you ever been in a playoff game or any big game where the the crowd your home crowd seems to be like 70 away fans no not that much no no but that would suck do you think do you think that would piss you off for sure oh yeah for sure what would you be thinking about that i probably during the game i wouldn't i wouldn't think about it too much but like you know the other team makes a shot and you hear a bunch of cheers. What was that? Or you miss a free throw in your home crowd's cheering.
And you're also fighting through Bell's palsy. Or it's not quiet when you hear free throws at home.
Yeah, you can only see out of one eye. And you're like, what are all these fans doing here? What would you say about that after the game? Not an excuses guy.
Not an excuses guy. But it's tough.
Yeah, it's tough. Yeah.
Like you wouldn't say bad sports town, but some people could say that. It opens up dialogue for that.
Yeah, the conversation's happening. It has to start.
We've had that conversation. As it is, I don't give a fuck state of this series where he's like, this can't hurt me.
I mean, the fact that it happened in Philly of all places is crazy. And I understand it's like a two-hour drive from New York.
You can get on a train, be there, and get back home. Prices also at MSG are crazy to get in.
That's my favorite. Whenever we start bringing in the price wars, we're like, well, it's so expensive to go to MSG.
Yeah. Which is kind of true.
It is, but it's just such a funny clope that we go to where it's like, well, of course there's a bunch of fans.

It's cheaper.

Yeah, but for them to have that many home fans on the road,

tickets are available.

I would be upset if I was a player.

Out of all the places in all the teams still left,

what's the best gym to shoot at?

Ooh, that's a good question.

Good question. Thank you.
That's a good question. Good question.
All right, let's go through. Honestly, Miami is notoriously a good shooting gym.
Really? I mean, it's always warm, you know? So, like, you don't have to worry about loosening up and getting warm. Right.
And, like, worried about any of that. The basketballs are always soft, good basketballs.
The rims feel soft. It's the humidity.
Yeah. You know, like when the ball hits the rim, it's got a little better chance of going in.
Yeah. Miami's a good one.
Phoenix isn't a bad one. Dry heat.
I'm trying to think of some more. Is there a bad one? Honestly, I want to say Minnesota, but I shot well there this year, so i don't know if that's not so bad yeah maybe it's not so bad uh it's it's uh staples center sorry crypto arenas good shooting gym yeah do you like it yeah the dark backgrounds you like that yeah yeah is there any truth to like it when you watch watch in the – not the NCAA tournament, but a lot of times some of the smaller schools are playing in gyms that have the backs that are closer to the backboard? Does that give you better depth perception? Oh, like the high school gym? Yeah, like the high school gym type vibes.
Or just like one row of bleachers? Yeah. Yeah, is that easier? That's a good question.
I always felt like that would help with depth perception when there's like – Dude, honestly, played a gym like that so long i don't i don't know our gym yes yeah we'll take a couple shots after yeah yeah we can put you on the gun and check your stats yeah might be better what about uh the so like going forward in the playoffs is like back to or not there's no back-to-backs but it's every other day is there real like does it really feel like you get later in a series and you start your body wears down or is it like we're already here we're used to this it's fine because like i even game sevens like you'll see the basketball will not be the best basketball that might just be teams are tight but like how does it feel going through a deep playoff run no it's definitely i mean I mean, it gets to you. Obviously, the only really deep playoff run I've had was with the Lakers.
Bubble, yeah. Yeah, bubble.
So, but, like – It didn't count. So, the travel didn't affect us.
But, like, by the second series, into the second series, you know you're tired. Yeah.
And you just got to fight through it. And even having, like – so, imagine, you know, finishing that.
I mean, I think back to our series against the Bucs. you know we're tired yeah and you just gotta fight through it and even having like so imagine you know finishing that i mean i think back to our our series against the bucks you know we played them like i remember after the first game you know i was taking charges on yannis like i was like in the mix late the game and then we come back and like i remember the drive home from milwaukee to chicago i was just looking out of the window i was like fuck i'm tired dude yeah.
That was a lot. Because you're just at a different level? Yeah.
You feel at a different level? There's no – like think about the last five minutes of a close game in the regular season, the whole game. Yeah.
It's as hard as you can go basically the whole 48 minutes. Yeah.
Yeah. Have you reached the point where you're starting to like take better care of your body? Players always talk about that.
Like after you're in the league for so long long you realize what you can and can't do um i know a lot i forget who was saying this in an interview but he was saying like at at morning shoot around or like a morning workout half the guys would just smell like liquor because they were like sweating out the night before essentially like getting back into shape at what point did you have to change the way uh either you like you partied a little bit or any of that other stuff because you realized you couldn't recover the

same way you used to yeah honestly the last the last couple years just playing more minutes you

know like when i was in la i was playing max 20 minutes you know maybe maybe get into like the

mid-20s if i'm playing really good some game because we had so many guys and so i didn't like

you know i didn't realize you know how much of a grind really the season was and then i got

Thank you. maybe get into like the mid-20s if I'm playing really good some game because we had so many guys.
And so I didn't like – you know, I didn't realize, you know, how much of a grind really the season was. And then I got to Chicago, you know, playing 30 minutes a night the first season.
And it's like, oh, shit. Like when we play four games in six days, you know, and you're playing 25, 30 minutes plus.
Like at the end of that third game on the back-to-back in the third game, you're like, oh, shit. Like I need to get the Colt up need to get the cold tub like yeah and that was part of the reason this year i think i had such a good year uh on the court you know i played 70 something games like 29 minutes 30 minutes a night uh was just the routine you know like i i was i was on top of like you know all the shit that people talk about nutrition.
I was cold tubbing every time we had to on the road,

wearing my recovery tights.

I just found a good rhythm.

What are recovery tights?

They're basically just ankle to thigh,

just full body recovery tights. Just a giant compression sleeve?

Yeah, basically.

I love those because you see people in compression sleeves or the leggings and it's like either NBA athlete or diabetes. There's like no in between.
Those are the only two reasons you'd wear them. The biggest ends of the spectrum you could find.
Maybe going on a long plane ride, trying to increase your circuit. Yeah, but it's just like there's nothing really.
It's like one or the other. Yeah, that's fair.
I never thought about that. Yeah yeah how did you decide to become a compression sleeve guy did you try out different things like luke is wearing all sorts of shit all over his body have you tried out wearing like different sleeves different parts of your body yeah dude i wear i are i have teammates that make fun of me i wear the most stuff out of anybody like i have i have uh and i don't wear those like those padded compression shorts on the hip yeah from these companies because they don't actually protect like the joints and your bones like it's on your it's on your thigh and like below your tailbone so i wear like snowboard the snowboard pads oh really so when i like fall take charges and stuff like that's what i'm falling on.
I got knee pads on. I wore the arm sleeve this year because at first, I hyperextended my elbow a little bit, and my elbow was messed up, so I wore that to keep it tight.
And then, sure enough, fell on my elbow enough times during the season, wore a padded one towards the end of the year. I got a lot going on.
Yeah. I like the knee pads, although I feel like a lot of players don't wear those it would be maybe restrictive no not restrictive no? because by the time you're not wearing it's not like the weight lifting the power lifting knee pads where your leg has to stay straight they're pretty movable the ankle braces those are restrictive I would restrictive i would assume because like no one i tape i don't wear the ankle braces like grayson allen wears the thick ones i think uh steph wears them yeah fox wears them yeah it looks like forrest gump yeah i'm not a big fan of the ankle braces i'm a tape guy yeah yeah i have that movement um all right i got one last question rowback question rhoback.com promo code take uh 20 off your first purchase Q-Zips, I got one last question, rowback question, R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com, promo code TAKE.
20% off your first purchase, Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Thank you, Alex, for coming in.
I know you're going on summer break, so I'm happy that you're able to come in. Whenever you're back, you got to golf, and you also, like, we learn more about basketball with you around.
I think we're going to give you a key card next year. That'd be great.
So you're going to just in in golf whenever and beat the fuck out of hank which actually i might just have that be like we just have it on the schedule it's on side hank gets his ass kicked yeah gets rid of cocky hank yeah we can just we can just shove him down be like you're still not good if hank just gets really good nah nah he has gotten a lot better but nah i'm not i'm not really worried about that so uh the teams, I know everyone's like, oh, well, the Nuggets look like the best team in the West. They're the defending champs.
The Celtics. Hank already has Celtics Nuggets in the finals.
But the young teams of the Thunder, the Wolves, the Pacers. I guess you'd throw the Knicks in there, just not.
Are the Wolves that young of a team? I'm saying more like young in terms of success. Gotcha.
So like yeah, I mean the Thunder confuse it because they are literally the youngest team. Yeah, like the deep run teams.
Which team do you think has the best chance to potentially do like a crazy how do they get to the finals run? It's crazy. I mean the wording of that is tough too.
It's like how do they get to the But, like, literally the West had three number one seeds this year. Right.
Like, the Thunder and the Wolves and Denver went back and forth until the last week. Yeah, they were game apart.
Yeah. Based on the first couple games, I don't think the Pelicans were a true test for OKC, so it's tough to say with them.
But based on how Minnesota's playing i'd say i'd say the t wolves yeah it does feel and it feels ready for the moment like he doesn't feel like he shies away you know make miss and he's indifferent like he just is go mode uh i like i like mike conley i like i like mcdaniels uh i like the pieces like i like how their team fits for the postseason yeah during the regular season night in night out depending on matchups it's not great but for the postseason i think i think they match up with a lot of a lot of teams really well what about what about the pacers because they're they are like they haven't i think this would be the first series the pacers have won in a long time um and they they play a style that's like fun to watch they fast they got a bunch of athletes it's i think it's the same thing though with with the thunder like bucks without bucks without honest and then also you know dame missed missed tonight and bobby got ejected so like i'm not taking anything away from them because like you still gotta go out there and play the games and and they're playing well and they beat them earlier in the season too so it's not like it's completely you know out of the ordinary for that but i don't know dude the the way they play i it makes it hard too because we had success against them this year yeah so i don't understand i don't understand how the other teams struggle with them when it's just like, all right, get back in transition. You know, pretty much I say take care of, but like guard Halliburton, guard Siakam, you got a pretty good recipe for success.
But I guess we just matched up with them well. Yeah.
I don't know. Who would they play in the second round if they advance? They would play the Knicks Sixers.
Yeah. Don't love that for them.
Yeah. So, I mean, the T-Wolves are good because you're right.
Like, the Pacers have been impressive, but they are playing against a hammered box. I think there's just more question marks around the other team.
Right. Whereas the Wolves have just – I know they're playing right now, but, like, the first three games they've completely dismantled the Suns.
Just nothing special either. They just go out there guarding, playing on offense, going home.
Yeah. And for us, because we're not the smartest basketball minds in the world, when we're watching the Suns on paper, the Suns should be good.
I think. I mean, they have a big three.
They put together a big three. What is it about the team that has just looked so disjointed um so just like frustrating to watch what is the what is the reason why they're struggling despite having so much talent yeah i think they're missing i think they're missing a point guard like a lead guard like somebody i think they're missing somebody to organize everything to to take some of the pressure off these other guys to bring the ball up to you know through the through a playoff series like we talked about seven games if you have to work as hard as they have to work to get shots up and especially against the timberwolves so much length like you're not just getting layups at the rim and now you're asking them to bring the ball up and to organize stuff and to make decisions it's just a lot yeah i feel like a couple of the games that i've watched it just looks like whenever like you know the energy is high and the game's kind of crazy like they need to be able to throw the ball to somebody put it under their arm and like all right go get in the corner run this play do this and kind of calm everything down and they don't have they don't have a stable force yeah it's even i mean the mavs clippers game was so incredible to watch because you had like james harden and kairi just trading in the fourth quarter it's like this is you know and it was just like all right we got the ball and it's like get to your spot get your spot come come set the screen right right it's either i'm gonna get a great shot or someone else is gonna get a great shot um all right well thanks so much your summer.
Good luck with golf. Appreciate that.
Whenever you're back, you're welcome to come by. I want you to just beat Hank every single time.
We should just get it like 100 matches. Hank, what's your best round ever? I shot an 86 a couple weeks ago.
Okay. It's pretty good, though.

Was it an 86?

Yeah, from the whites.

Were you keeping no gimmies?

No gimmies.

No mulligans?

No mulligans. No breakfast balls?

Maybe breakfast balls.

Oh, okay.

No gimmies at all?

No.

Not a single gimmie.

The people you were playing with, were they like, hey.

Balling Cup, that's a good number.

Balling Cup, that's a good number.

Okay.

Good job, Hank.

I shot a 72 at Shinnecock once. I think I know about that.
Yeah. And then...
People talk about it coast to coast. Yeah.
No erasers on the... Yeah, well, listen, you can shoot whatever you want.
You just got to fill it out. Yeah.
It's very easy. Score is a mindset.
Yeah. I mean, you want me...
You want me to go to Pebble Beach tomorrow and shoot a 65 somebody i tweeted and actually jj reddick texted me he's like dude i didn't know you're a stick we got to get out yeah i was like dude i i skipped like seven holes i did that one time gave up i did that one time with a scorecard where i had three zeros on my car yeah i was like pretty good right almost broke a hundred yeah yeah just skip a hole though you just get your drink yeah exactly it was crazy i actually did enjoy though the like hour of uh people like reaching out being like holy shit you're a really good golfer yeah and i was like this is awesome like everyone respects me now it's like announcing you you're having a kid and then posting a 72 at shinnecock you get probably the the same amount of texts from people. Yeah.
Dude, congrats. That's awesome.
Isn't it how much people care about you? Yeah. It was crazy.
You play good golf? Oh, dude. Congrats.
I remember it wasn't a ton of people, but JJ texted me and was like, we got to go out. And then Justin Thomas texted me.
He's like, dude, I didn't know you had that game. And I was like, I don't.
Did they revoke the invitation? Yeah, they were just like, oh. It wasn't real.
Oh, my gosh. Never mind.
I'm never golfing with you. The internet gets a bad rap sometimes for golf losers that will correct anything in your swing, like if you post a swing online.
But what I found is the golf community is actually very, very supportive. If you shoot what you think is a decent score, you get it.
I mean, even if I break 100 and I post the scorecard, there's so many people that are like, dude's awesome congrats i'm so proud of you yeah you don't hear about those people as much as you hear the losers like you need to open up your swing yeah nobody cares about those people yeah guys i felt loved yeah i gotta do it again they don't love the game they love it for themselves exactly wait what's your best score um i've shot a two over 73 and a 74 so on a par 71 So not 72 at Shinnecock. No.
Okay. You got me.
Hey, listen, you can always dream. You can always dream.
I'm playing Tuesday. I'm going to shoot 71 and text it to you.
Okay. Have you got a hole in one? Yeah, I got one.
Is it on film? It's recorded on my phone that the ball was in the hole and the people. So that's a no.
That's a no. I don't play YouTube golf.
I don't know what you want me to do. It's true.
It's true. Our standard is very tough.
Maybe we should. Maybe that's my summer job.
You don't want to be the guy who every single par three, you're like, hey, take out your phone. Yeah.
Yeah. I might do it this time.
Yeah. Never even close.
You just start topping it. We did that in Arizona.
We went to, we played the TPC atc at scottsdale yeah and we hit a par three everybody brought their cameras out which one was the famous one 16 uh no we did that on 16 too but i think it was like i don't know seven or something on the front nine and i hit my shot and the ball went directly to the right bounced off a tree and went backwards and then they're like okay try it again and i did the exact same thing with the ball went backwards and having somebody film you like you're expecting to get a hole in one and have it turn out that bad. Did they know what kind of golfer you were? Oh, yeah.
They played seven holes in the year. Okay.
I have the video. We'll post the video.
Yeah. But, yeah, hole in one.
So you haven't really got it yet. Yeah, no.
Yeah. Yeah, I guess not.
Sorry. We won't allow it.
I got one asterisk. Like the championship.
It's a one ring. Right.

You feel like you're a champion when you go to bed at night.

We don't.

Yeah.

You got a bubble hole in one.

It's like, yes, there you go.

I got a bubble hole in one.

Would that be the biggest scumbag move of all time if you lied and said that you got

a hole in one?

Like at the end of your round, you like post online.

Yeah.

Got my first hole in one.

Well, I've done that.

On your round?

How did you make that round? I have done just random scorecards. I'll just throw one out there.
And then people... And I was like, holy shit.
But somebody doing it seriously. I think that might be the saddest thing ever.
Oh, it would definitely be the saddest thing. I feel like that's got to be bad karma, too.
You'll never make one. Yeah.
I can't remember the story this dude this dude i found on the internet he he like was new to golf came in told his grandpa that he was like how'd your round go he's like oh it was great like i made a hole in one and blah blah blah and his grandpa was like so excited for him he didn't make a hole in one he was just like you know bullshitting with him didn't have the heart to tell him day later he comes back guy made him a plaque oh with the ball the whole what it was the yardage oh no guy's grandpa dies before he can tell him oh never she better he said he's never gonna make one his life i'm like yeah that's the perfect jinx yeah hey grandpa's dead and he thought you had a whole moon that's kind of cool yeah i guess for him it's yeah yeah the grandpa gets to heaven and i i always imagine that when you get to heaven you've got like dvr for life when you can watch it we don't know these people's morals yeah okay yeah but i just all i would imagine that he's like i want to go see my grandson's hole in one yeah it's rewind and he's like what the hell what the hell has he done yeah now he's up in heaven pissed off for the rest of his life yeah uh all All right, Caruso, thank you so much. We'll see you soon.
Yeah, I'll be back soon. Caruso was brought to you by Morgan & Morgan, it's America's largest injury law firm.
They have over 100 offices nationwide, more than 1,000 lawyers. With over $20 billion recovered for over 500,000 clients, Morgan & Morgan has a proven track record of fighting to get you full and fair compensation.

Submitting an injury claim with Morgan & Morgan is so easy.

Being there for your team, home playoff game, sometimes not that easy.

You know what's easy?

Filing a claim with Morgan & Morgan.

Submitting an injury claim is so easy.

If you're ever injured, check out Morgan & Morgan.

If you get injured playing on a basketball court and you have to miss a game, guess what? Morgan and Morgan, they'll be there for you. Their fee is free unless they win.
Check out Morgan and Morgan today. For more information, go to forthepeople.com slash PMT, or you can dial poundlaw, pound 529 from your cell phone.
That's forthepeople.com slash PMT or pound law, pound 529 from your cell. This is a paid advertisement.
Okay, let's wrap up the show. The Minnesota Timberwolves are going to the second round in a four game sweep, which is shocking in the fact that it was, I think before the series, it was even money on both sides.
Who would win that series? And the Timberwolves just dismantled the Phoenix Suns. Their defense is so good.
Anthony Edwards is a star rising up the charts. He is that dude.
I'm happy for Minnesota. They've won a series.
They're going on. I think this is, this is I gotta check this I think this might be other than the year they Kevin Garnett took them to the Western Conference Finals I think this is the first time they've won a series is it really I believe so I'm gonna look it up I'm gonna look it up I mean that would be shocking if true I'm pretty sure Just because it feels like we talk about the Wolves being in and around the postseason.
But they haven't won series. The play-in game.
Yeah, play-in game. They haven't won series.
Play-in series. Here we go.
Minnesota Timberwolves playoff history. Let's see.
They, I am 100% correct. Wow.
Kevin Garnett year. They went to the Western Conference Finals.
Other than that, in their franchise history, which started in 1989-1990 season, they have not won a playoff series. So congrats to Timberwolves.
That's awesome. That is very cool.
That's big. That's huge.
Yeah, you should enjoy this. To everyone in Minnesota, your sports history has just been so tortured and so painful.
This is big. That's a crazy stat crazy stat it's big and it's also not a fluke that you dominate the suns you're really really good and i have to think that they're going to be i guess i guess they could match up well against against the nuggets right like their defense is incredible they i don't think they matched up well against the nuggets in uh the regular season but i don't think that matters because i think the suns matched up well against the timberuggets in the regular season, but I don't think that matters because I think the Suns matched up well

against the Timberwolves in the regular season, so who the fuck cares?

Yeah, their team defense is unreal.

Yeah, Anthony Edwards is him.

Yeah, congrats.

That's huge.

I mean, they've been building.

They've been flirting with it.

Now they have gone to the next round.

They're a team on the rise. That's fucking awesome.
On the other side of it, time to blow up the Suns. Okay, so a couple Suns stats.
They might be unblow-up-able. Yeah, no, it's going to be very hard.
I think blowing up the Suns is like fire the coach, even though it's his first season. Matt Ishbia, this has maybe been one of the greatest, like, rich guy buys a team who thinks he's the smartest guy in the world, does a bunch of all-in moves, and it blows up in record time.
We've seen it time and time again. This happens all the time.
Remember what Prokhorov with the Nets? Like, any time a new owner shows up, they're like, we got to win right now. I want to do everything right now.

The Suns have zero playoff wins this season. They have zero first-round picks from 2025 to 2030.
They have zero second-round picks from 2024 to 2030. Okay, so I'm trying to think how you're going to get good players.
They have one pick in the NBA draft between now and 2031. One single pick.
That's insane. They have Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker.
They've also, like, think about it. They were two games away.
They were up 2-0 on the Bucs, and everything that has happened since then has been an all-out disaster. Yeah, it's been very painful.
And they deserve a lot more blame than they get. I think they just kind of snake by.
They should be shamed, shamed, shamed for the way they've gone out. Yeah, so today I think KD had 33 points.
Book had 47 points. Yep.
They went out. They bradley beal nine points bradley beal also no trade clause like we said and he's getting i think 50 million dollars a year for the next three seasons so i don't know how you blow this team up no i mean they got to hope that someone wants to trade for kevin durant or Kevin Durant says he wants to be traded Kevin Durant this is getting it's getting on the ugly side of his career in terms of I know that he had that one which I mentioned at the beginning of the show the one season where he almost single-handedly took the Nets to beat the Bucs in that game seven where his foot was on the line but other than that this has not been a fun a few years since left golden state also the sons have not won a playoff game since since matt ishbia took a flop against yokich yeah that was a big flop so they've lost six straight games but remember sons in four year sounds in four year was fun uh yeah i don't know what that's and i mean ke Kevin Durant now with the Nets and the Suns, he's completely destroyed two franchises.
I don't know that you can say he destroyed the Nets. Well, he went there.
He brought Kyrie. Kyrie obviously had a large part of it, but then he was like, I need to get out of here.
Yeah. And it's not like's not like they i mean the nets will are trying to rebuild but they went all in with kevin durant and he's like two years later was like get me the fuck out of here yeah i mean he's gonna do the same thing for the sun that entire experiment in in uh brooklyn was just i think there were three big reasons why it didn't work right but he it did feel like he was the one who's putting it all together yeah and it but it didn't work.
But this experiment also, yeah, did not work. Yeah.
So Kevin Durant, I think the only move he has is Hope the Thunder will take him and they can win a title. I don't know.
Maybe it's coming home. Maybe bring him back to DC.
Yeah. I don't know.
This was, yeah, this was a crazy, they just absolutely dismantled him. The wolvesves are just so much better, and now the Suns are, like if you're Matt Ishpia, what do you do? That shot of him on Friday night when they Zoomed in, and he was just like the saddest guy in the world, I don't know what you do.
You bought this team. You thought you were like, you know, I'm going to get my big three.
We're going to win a championship. Look at me.
I'm the smart guy. And it's just all gone to shit.
So let's go into the big bag of tricks of what a billionaire owner would do. Like someone that's new to the business.
You tried going all in. You tried putting together a super team.
That's not working. Now I feel like you got to go to your superstars and see who they want as the coach.
Yeah.

Right?

And then you hire whoever your superstar says, and then that doesn't work out.

And then now you've learned two big lessons in your first couple of seasons.

Yeah.

Right?

But I feel like this is the exact time in a new owner's life where he becomes like,

tries to be best friends with his stars.

Yep.

And then gives them whatever they want.

And then they're going to be unhappy regardless of what happens. Like one, one and a half years from now tops.
Yeah. Yeah.
That's pretty much, that's the book. Yeah.
That's the book. He's man.
And he, he was doing his, uh, he had his kids around him. I think tonight, just maybe like soften the blow.
Like, hey, don't make fun of me as much.

My kids are here.

Yeah.

Bradley Beal did say, I've never been swept a day in my life.

So I'll be damned if that happens.

Oh, I do.

I do.

No, actually, no. I was going to say I respect Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, like not just like folding

in the first quarter.

But no, I don't.

I actually don't.

I don't respect.

You don't respect that? No, I don't. I don't respect the Suns at all.
I'm not going to give the Suns any compliments. Okay.
I don't think they deserve a single compliment. All the compliments go to the Wolves.
The Gorilla was cool. I love the Gorilla.
The Gorilla was cool. But yeah, the Wolves are a complete team.
I do think they can give the Nuggets a series. I think they can win that series.
Yeah. I mean, you have to think that Gobertbert against yokich is as good as it can get against yokich right yeah and i think we'll have like what we're gonna have both we're gonna have one game where anthony edwards probably uh shoots like two for 18 but then we're also gonna have a game where anthony edwards is the best player on the court yeah and he just dominates because he is that guy i fucking love him we

got to get him on pmt i have to get him on pmt oh maybe tom creen yeah can help us get him yeah

tom creen he's a tom creen guy he's a tom creen disciple uh okay let's finish up the show i just

want to give a quick shout out to all the listeners who uh had my back on friday and they're like this

is what america's about this sad loser that is max uh to take one away from you, and then you just, through hard work, beat him. It was incredible.
Everyone was like, this is what America's about. Yeah.
Is there any additional pressure on you, Max? Oh, there's so much pressure on him. Is there any pressure on you? No, he's going to get it.
No, I'm going to get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Max. I'm just going to continue to ask you every time this question is asked towards me.
Okay, and I'm going to say I'm going to get it. Yeah.
I'll say the same thing. I'm going to get it too.
No one believes you. Oh, okay.
I'm going to get it maybe this time. Okay.
You know what? Maybe work hard like I did. I've been thinking about getting it this time.
I made a promise. I'm the anti-Bradley Beal.
I made a promise and I delivered. So shout out all the people.
And they even, even, even Hank and Max tried to take my joy away when Caleb Williams said he was number 18. It was so sad.
It was nasty work. You were being a nasty boy on Thursday.
There was a lot of things said about him being 13. You were being a nasty boy.
You did follow me around the entire office and be like hey i got 13 caleb williams number because it was when we when i followed you around the office what time was i following there was also a time where i asked you a question i was like is that going to be his number in the nfl and i said probably no you said yeah he's already said that that's going to be his number you know i was thinking about like how awesome would it be to be a punter on a team and then you draft a guy and then he has he has to pay you $40,000 for your jersey? Yeah, you've got to pick a team number to try to get a wide receiver or a quarterback. If you were a Browns punter in the 2000s or 2010s, I would change my number every year looking at who the hot quarterback prospects were going to be coming out next year's draft.
Try to camp on their number, so that way when Johnnyziel comes in you're like gotta buy gotta pay up shit that's a good point it's a good line of work to be in yeah imagine if there was if if someone because keenan allen is number 13 and kill williams great teammate was like nah he's a future hall of fame i've got to give him the number uh but imagine if someone on the bears had gone 13, sold it to Keenan Allen, then went 18, sold it to Caleb Williams. Yeah, you flip it.
Now you're flipping jerseys. If you're a punter or a kicker in the NFL, reach out to us.
We're happy to consult with you and tell you what jersey number you should switch to ahead of next season. Yeah.
Okay. Max, have you ever gotten this? PFDA, have you ever gotten this? No, I asked the question to you, Max.

I asked the question to PFT.

Okay, but answer my question.

I have not gotten it yet.

PFT, have you gotten it yet?

I'm about to.

Okay.

Max, will you pick my number for me today?

No.

Please.

No.

I want you to.

I will not.

Because I could probably win with your number, too.

I want to show you.

I'm not going to do that.

Okay.

Numbers.

20.

Three. There's a ball up top.
Yep. Six.
What's six? I'll do 18. Lucky number.
Jake's going to be so mad if you get it, Max. Oh, he's doing it for Caleb Williams.
Yeah. I know, but Jake's going to be mad regardless.
I got to think because I'm hot. I'm one for one in the last one.
You know what? 99 pug. There you go, pug.
Max, when you looked in there, was 20 in there? Right. It was right next to 13.
Yeah. That was a sad moment when Max was pulling through the balls.
He's like, 20 even in here? I can't fucking find this. I can't see it.
I'll go 67. 21.

That was Shane.

Max,

did you have any losers try to say I looked this time?

Nope. Yeah, you probably

were Twitter searching. I didn't even look.

I never

wanted to look at that moment again.

Memes, did you say three or are you just holding

your hand up? I said three, but I'm holding up.

All right, okay.

Do it every time.

It's going to hit.

99 Pug, the guy's face.

It's hot.

Holy shit, Pug.

Let's go, Pug.

This is too much, Pug.

Oh, my God.

This is too much, Pug.

You're so fucking good at this.

So much better than Max.

Facts. Is that your third time? Yes.
It's coming like clockwork now. Great job, Pug.
Pug, you're a fucking beast, dude. I don't know what to say.
How do you do it? Right place, right time. Pug.
Congrats, Pug. I'm going to be happy for anyone except Max Because Max is never going to get it

Max you ever got it?

You'll get it one day man

Oh no

Oh no

Buy a shirt

Buy a 99 Pug shirt

Love you guys Thank you. Take me down.
Thank you.