Ep 191: NBA Finals + NFL Talk

The fellas mix in a healthy dose of the shield into their NBA finals coverage. Didn't get the invite to San Antonio this year but studio 5b was able to provide an equally accommodating ambiance.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Between the Lines podcast. I am one of your three hosts, creator and founder of the King Report, Carver King, and joining me as always, my two good friends. I think we'll start with Jackson. Jackson, how are you doing on a finals, NBA finals evening here, Wednesday evening here in Minneapolis, Minnesota?

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Doing well. Happy to be back on the podcast with you fellas, man. Really fired up. It's June. June means it's finals time. We had a great finals matchup here between the league's biggest market and uh the league's biggest star. So plenty to be fired up about. Also, I will note happy Pride Month to those who celebrate.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

And I guess uh happy kind of start of summer month, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Happy uh men's mental health awareness month to all the people that don't want to acknowledge Pride Month.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Exactly. I think in the state of Alabama, I saw that uh they're calling it um strong families month. Oh, nice Families Month in Alabama.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

So nice. However, you want to conservatively code that.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Exactly. However, whatever makes you feel good about celebrating the month of June. It's a month of celebrating.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Does Dana White just hate June then? Like this. He just despises this month.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Uh it's like wake me up uh when September ends. For Dana White, it's actually just June. Yeah, it's like wake me up when June's over, dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

This is this is a great time of year for uh performative uh kind of uh you know, like people think that uh left wingers are like performative, right? Like they, you know, the especially like kind of post-George Floyd and different things of that nature. Uh June is a great time to see like right wing performance when like getting so utterly offended by uh every rainbow you see uh when you are at you know your local target or farmer's market. Justin. Takes a lot of energy. It does, it does, it does. Uh Justin, how are you doing? Uh how's how's life down in the big O?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Doing well. It's a little, I will say it's a little different than Minneapolis. Uh so far at the beginning of Pride Month. There's a different uh the city just looks different. Um and Omaha is the left-leaning part of the state, but it's still it's still Nebraska, if that makes sense. Um but college world series gonna be in town next week.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

That'll be lit. Hopefully, US. Oh yeah, dude. That's gonna be awesome.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Luckily, Nebraska isn't making it. We went to we went to the Big Ten Championship, uh, the final four last weekend. So we saw USC, UCLA. So I was I was obviously there scouting roch for the boys um up in the twin cities, just letting them know what I think. Appreciate it. He's he's kind of got a dumpy on him, so I'm I'm for the pick if he's there. He probably won't be there. Um but if you if you're drafting a baseball player, you you better have they better have some a thick behind because that's how you hit balls out of the park.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

How are we gonna have any power?

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Like without that, you just can't you can't get that torque on the ball. Um hundred percent. Yeah, he he's a good looking player. Then we watched Oregon play Nebraska, and I mean Nebraska in the two games I've watched the Nebraska game live last weekend, and this past weekend during the OKC game when we were at a brewery, uh, for some reason they threw that game on the TV. So we were all we all had our phones out at the table with OKC. And in the 18 innings I've watched Nebraska play, I think they scored one run. Um so Nebraska baseball, just like Nebraska football, when they play the gophers, they just can't they can't score. Yeah, and that's that it feels really good to be here while that's going on.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Um Nebraska men's sports, and I know our basketball team kind of broke through the their proverbial glass ceiling this year, but not it not just not a great time to be a fan of the men in Nebraska, essentially since we've been alive. I mean, the hoose trash, football.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

If you're here though, I'll tell you this. Nebraska ball, dude, Nebraska ball's back. But they ride that national championship in like 2000, 2001, whichever year it was. I'll tell you that. Uh so I think that'll last a lifetime, even for the people that didn't experience it.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Well, I know people don't like Nebraska fans, but like credit to them for holding on to like the faintest amount of success. And like, like, is there a fan base that has had less success that like is louder?

SPEAKER_01 4:31

That's true, because cowboys fans do piss on the cowboys a lot, surprisingly.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Yeah, but you I've I was Hope Springs Eternal in Nebraska. I was talking about this. I was on a bachelor party this week, and I was we were talking about this. I've never been to Dallas, so I can't imagine like what it's like actually like in the heart of Cowboy Land. You haven't met the worst cowboy, you haven't even met like the like top like 5,000 worst cowboy cowboy fans, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Like, I mean, I guess I haven't met Skip Bayless, but I feel like I know him.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

But we haven't been to like a small town outside of Dallas where it's like wow, they actually think every year is the year that like Jerry's gonna get him out of this thing.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

I mean, Jackson and I both Jackson and I traveled to New Orleans uh back in our choir days. Yeah, and you would think Drew Brees for real was the closest thing to like Jesus in the city of New Orleans.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

You say something bad about Drew Brees, it's like he pissed on a cross.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Yeah, there's like cutout cardboard things of life size of him everywhere. It's just weird, but uh, I guess that was that was a lot closer to I mean, that was within five years of them winning the bowl. So yeah, that was that was kind of makes more sense.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

I mean, Katrina's still, I mean, they still not really old. Still recovering. Yeah, still, they're still recovering.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

They're still rebuilding 20 years later.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

George, what the what was the former famous quote by uh Kanye West? George hate George Bush hates black people.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

True. Um should we have known then? Yeah, maybe very well, the very well spoken Kanye West.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Uh-huh. Uh well, thank you for joining us, episode 191 of the Between the Lines podcast. I actually don't have any 91s written down.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

I think even Stam Coast wears 91, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Yeah, there you go, there you go. See you the stammer. Shout out to Chell, man. You want me a lot of Chell games back in the day. We had who was the was Patrick Robinson that the edge roster for the Vikings at last year or two years ago, he had like eight sacks.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Pat Jones Jr.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Pat Jones, yeah. Did he wear 91?

SPEAKER_01 6:29

I think he did.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Yeah. Oh, dude, we're missing an obvious one here. Oh, wait, did I get it?

SPEAKER_00 6:33

Dennis Robin, Dennis Robin. Oh, yeah. Dennis Robin did wear 91.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

Bad dad, great basketball player. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Famous. Did I accidentally say is TJ Watt 91 and I accidentally set him for 90? Or is he?

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Oh no, you said he is 90. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Okay, good.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

I forgot about TJ Watt last time. Google Gemini. Great little uh the Google search engine. Don't even know TJ Watt. I mean, almost won MVP.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Dennis Rodman did come up as number one. And Sergey Federov.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

91's not real.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Guess the sport Sergey Federov plays.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

I'm gonna guess he plays on his ice hockey.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

He does play on the ice.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Yep, yep, yep. Well, uh, we're coming to you, episode nine. Well, 91. Thank you for joining us. We're actually watching uh the Knicks and the Spurs right now. Knicks off to a decent start.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

What about Vikings Legend?

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Is it another one? Oh is it the Vikings Legend?

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Eric Armstead?

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Yeah, no, Eric Armstead played for the 49ers.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

Uh okay. Yep. That's not the 40 or Javon Hargrave is the Viking legend.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Are you Javon Hargrave still still a Viking?

SPEAKER_00 7:37

No, Javon Hargrave is a Green Bay Packer. He he he crossed the picket line. He defected defected. Uh Jr. Are you watching the game? Do you have it up?

SPEAKER_01 7:45

I am. I do have it up. I I think we're synced up pretty well because Kat, when you were like, oh, is he gonna do it again? Kat scored. Is Kat's kind of giving Wemby the business right now?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Kat's kind of giving Wemby the business right now.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

God, I miss him, dude. Oh sesty as hell.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

This is gonna be, it's it's kind of like, I mean, Kirk wasn't gonna win a Super Bowl in Atlanta, but if Kirk were to win a Super Bowl or if Kat were to win a finals MVP, there would be a lot of people on Minnesota Sports Twitter that just they would be silent for like a week or two. Like they're they have nothing to say.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

I would just believe if Kirk Huggins won a Super Bowl after he left the Vikings, I would have just gotten out. I actually probably probably would have been my time. I would have realized it was time for me to get off of social media. I mean, it's literally like the opposite of Sam Darnold winning. Yes, literally the opposite. Oh, yeah. Everyone wanted him. Where I was like, I actually kind of felt bad about bragging about it so much because I was like I'm actually annoying people because I forgot people, you know, are wanted them out of here. So whatever.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

I guess shout out to Jackson though, because he did say in the first round of the playoffs, well, if the Knicks just shoot like this, they're gonna win the championship.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

I did. That's part of my nugget, actually.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

Don't miss any shots of that. Um, but yeah, no, I'm excited for this finals. We'll kind of we'll kind of get into it a little later, and I think as as the game kind of progresses. Um, but obviously we'll be talking about it because we're watching it live, and so far the game is uh is good. I think this series is gonna be lit. Um, but we'll start with you then, Jackson. Uh, you want to kick it off with a nugget?

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Yeah. Um where should we go first? You know what? News of the day. I'll talk about it. Um, it's the month of the Iceman, the Iceman coming.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

It is the news of the day.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Uh, the summer of Iceman. Um, the Madden Man himself. Acefrio, Todo Alvierno.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

All summer long, baby. Cale Williams on the cover of Madden. Uh, pretty stoked about it. Never thought I'd live to see the day, honestly, that a Bears quarterback would be on the cover of Madden. Um, so I'll probably have to buy the game. I definitely have to buy the game. Maybe frame it. I I'll I'll I'll let you guys know if the uh controls are updated or if there's anything, uh any new features. Probably won't be. You can pass it.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Or when 70 bucks around.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Probably won't be, but uh I'm I'm pretty stoked. I'll I'll pre-order soon. And uh yeah, I just I can't believe it. Um I never thought we'd see the day. Um, and to all the haters, I just have to politely ask you to you know, suck it from the back. Can't believe this year.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah, if if it was uh it's cool to see. I mean, I didn't think before that draft, before they got that pick um from the Panthers, just handed to them. Uh it's it's crazy to three years ago think, oh, could the Bears have a quarterback on the cover of Madden? Uh it's crazy to think anytime in my life, dude.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Anytime in my life.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

I wasn't thinking it'd work out for Trubisky to get to the Madden cover. So at the time I was like, oh, is this gonna how are they gonna pull this off? But it's cool that he's on there. He seems like He seems like someone where you know they're gonna ask him about the Madden curse, and you know Caleb Williams doesn't give a shit about the Madden curse.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

He's gonna say I'm gonna break it or something like that. I feel like the Madden curse kind of The Madden curse is over. I think it kind of died when Brady didn't Brady win the MVP and no Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Brady won the Super Bowl at Tampa Bay. I actually have it here that kind of ended the the talk.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Um QB's on Madden cover since 2020 in their ensuing season. 2020, Patrick Mahomes. He only played 14 games because he got hurt. Um but uh he actually won the Super Bowl that year.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Yes, he did. That was when Matt Moore played.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Yep. Um Lamar Jackson um won the MVP. Um Tom Brady won the Super Bowl. Through for 5,000 yards, by the way. I remember that year. Um Patrick Mahomes.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Just won the MVP when they gave him to Rogers. 48,000.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

48,000 yards, 37 TDs in 17 games he played, played a full season. Then Josh Allen, um, I believe uh 2024. Did he win the MVP in 20? No, he won the MVP the next year, I want to say. So maybe not this that year, but um still had a still had a great year.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_02 11:51

Played the whole year. Yeah. So um the only guy who didn't play the whole year uh was Pat, and he won the Super Bowl. So um I I I feel pretty good about it. Uh quarterbacks on the cover of Madden um since 2020. So I I'm hoping for uh for big things. I think the Madden curse, we can hopefully put it to bed, but if not, you'll have a really funny clip to play of uh of me one day.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Yeah, I was gonna say I think this I I feel good about uh my my my general Bears regression take, you know, my my general thought that the Bears might regress this year.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Why do you think the Bears are gonna regress this year?

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Um, you know, I just think you know, last year they were uh a great teammate, you know, forced a lot of turnovers, kind of caught teams off guard a bit. Um, you know, a new coach, new head coach, you know. I think this year they come back down to earth a little bit, but hey, we'll see. Obviously, you gotta play the games. But I think this makes me feel a little bit better. Well, another year in the system with the new head coach, isn't there like more continuity? No, now knowing that Caleb Williams is fighting the demons of of of almost 30 years of not consistent bad luck, obviously. It's been good since the 20s, but historical bad luck. I think I don't know. I I I I thought if you if I was a Bears fan, it would be a great day for me, I guess. I'm surprised they're so jolly.

SPEAKER_02 12:58

I mean, I just I'm just not a Vikings fan like that. I I I don't have this like constant uh fear of something bad going wrong and the other shoe dropping because I just don't like believe in approaching my sports fandom in such a way. Um I I I choose to believe that maybe like good things will happen to me and then hopefully they do. And if not, then I guess we we we live with those consequences.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

That's that's very mature. That's very mature.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Imagine imagine watching like Minnesota baseball over the last three years and saying, I choose to believe that not everything will go wrong.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Well, I mean, then that that's a little different though, because like that's just an ownership problem.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Yeah, that is, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

It's it's like gas prices right now. It's like, well, when you can pinpoint to like a certain decision that was made. Right. And you can kind of you can kind of see around it or it gives you added perspective.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

It's like, oh, inflation's so bad, like it's probably gonna be bad forever. And it's like, well, there was really just one key decision that made inflation really bad. And I'm not gonna name names or point any fingers, but I don't know, maybe starting a war with Iran wasn't wasn't the best choice.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

I didn't I didn't know we'd be getting into Biden getting elected in 2020 being such a problem today.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Uh and just like that, we transitioned from Caleb Williams' Madden cover to geopolitics. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

No, uh no, I thought the album cover was cool. I think Madden picked the right athlete too.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

I think I'm stoked about it. I mean, I'm I'm surprised like Drake May didn't get it. Yeah, but um like especially with like being in the same draft class and him being in the Super Bowl, like he's kind of the it I right now.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Could easily put Drake May on there.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

You can't you can't with the Racini stuff. You just can't. You can't have him in there with the Racini stuff in the Patriots. Fair, fair. Patriots, but yeah, there are the engagement, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:37

Think about the engagement that would drive.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

That's true. You would and I guess now thinking about it, I have seen a lot of Madden covers today. I didn't even know it came out today or the decision came out.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

Um probably already had decided before the Rossini stuff broke, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

But I did see that I saw some covers last week on Twitter where it was like Drake May with Vrabel and Roussini on a Madden cover, and I just didn't think twice about it. I was like, I've seen so much stuff with those two over the past two months that it's like you kind of just scroll by it.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Your brain has slopped out. Yeah, his Diane Rassini slopped out, I get that.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

I saw something about it on Bears Reddit, like on Sunday, I want to say, or maybe Monday. Um, and I I didn't know whether to believe it or not until like today when they officially like like he confirmed it.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

I was like, holy shit, like this is actually real. Yeah, it it did seem kind of sneaky, but um the official drop is supposed to be tomorrow, from what I read.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

But I guess college football just came out, and I I kind of like the college football cover where they put Kirk Signetti on the front, which is kind of kind of comic comedic in a way, but uh I think that's good. No, I think it is good. I think it is again, I think a good pick out of yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Well, you couldn't do Jeremiah Smith again.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

No, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:45

And was Arch Manning good enough to like get an uh cover of a game?

SPEAKER_00 15:51

He probably tellers is like uh Arch Manning's one of those guys, and I think he he he heard the noise, like he saw the memes, you know what I mean? Like that that first week, those first two weeks.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

He played better down the stretch, I felt like he did, but he got burned hard.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Uh if we're talking about people getting burned internet-wise, seeing them on the internet. Arch Manning was the number one trend on sports Twitter for about yeah, three weeks there in September, August and September.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

I'm kind of worried about him uh this year. Um, I I I think he's gonna be pretty good. And I think part of it is like this, like his lack of success and how much people reveled in it right away was a little eye-opening for him. It's like, dude, people actually aren't rooting for you.

SPEAKER_00 16:34

Yeah, it's like people don't want you to just be good. Like, yeah, people want you to be bad.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

And I like he's obviously very talented, so I I think that might have lit a little bit of a fire. And also, like that the transfer portal that Texas pulled down is unbelievable. Yep, yep, yeah. So they'll be there'll be a force, I I would imagine.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

JR, what's up?

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Yeah, uh, I guess quick note since you said Nick started off kind of hot, I think they've scored three points in a game where I've never seen a higher pace of play with more possessions. Um dude, the pace of play is electric so far.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Let's say I we it was kind of a classic uh um Carl Anthony time or Carl Anthony Towns come out of a timeout. Like, of course, like that first segment, he was tearing it up and then comes out of the timeout and then takes three shots that he probably should have passed out of. Yeah, just just doing a little too much there, brother.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

A little too much.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Cat loves the heat check before he's hot, exactly. Um but yeah, nugget first nugget of the week. I guess we'll stick with stick with the NFL kind of. Um, obviously the big news in LA. Surprised Carver's not a Rams fan. Um with that boy Miles Garrett making the making the trek from Cleveland over to the Rams. Um, the Rams truly do believe in flags fly forever. This is the second time that they've done this. Yeah, they don't care about the picks. And for the most part, it's worked out for them. They've won a Super Bowl, they were in the conference championship.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Have they been in they've only been they've only been to one Super Bowl, but they've been to like three NFC championships games because they lost to the 49ers both times they went, or one at least one of the times they went.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

And the Seattle.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

So yeah, they've been to three NFC championship games, they've won one, they've won one Super Bowl, which I'd take that.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Yeah, so in the they've been doing pretty well since Aaron Donald left. McVay was gonna retire after the Super Bowl. Um, but Matt Stafford's still around. He's playing better than ever coming off. He did win the MVP, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:32

They have been to two Super Bowls, they lost to the Patriots.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yes, reigning MVP.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Yeah, so um, I think it's good for honestly, good for Miles Garrett getting down there, arguably. Besides Aaron Donald, the best defensive player I've ever seen. He's an argument to be there's an argument to be made that he is the best defensive player I've ever seen. Uh I'm interested. I'm sure you guys saw like the Pat McAfee clips of him saying, like, I spoke to Aaron Donald, and sources are saying he's thinking about it. I don't know, man. If I had $100 million and I was 35, I would just be fine with not playing football again.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

Yeah. If there's one dude though that like could do it, Aaron Donald's up there. Like, I mean, you know that dude's still working out.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

If if I oh, I've his he still looks insane, and he's the only guy that I've ever seen that's 280 pounds with an eight-pack. Yeah, he's just a freak of I I mean, if I was him, if I did think about like, oh, should I come out of retirement? I would start prepping as if I'm going to, and then I'd wait till 10 weeks into the year, and if they're good, be like, okay, let's ramp it up. Because you know he could step in in the middle of the season and be a starter day one.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Didn't um that was Frank Ragnow tried to pull that off. Yeah, but his neck was broken, that's why he couldn't get cleared essentially, and the lines kind of fell off.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

And the lines just were the worst. It was not worth it.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

But yeah, I don't know. I I'd I'd maybe sign up for or maybe you sign up in the maybe the middle of the season for like the kind of the push a little bit, and then you you sit him like the last three weeks, let him get healthy, and then you get put him back in the playoffs. But yeah, no, if I wasn't down, I consider it, but I kind of get his perspective where it's like, bro, if I tear my Achilles or blow my knee out, like what the hell did I do this for? Yeah, what the hell was I doing this for?

SPEAKER_02 20:22

No, I I'm stoked for Miles Garrett. I mean, you want to talk about the ultimate like glow-up in a trade situation, like you leave Cleveland for a Super Bowl contending team to live in Los Angeles. Yep. Like, I don't know, man. It doesn't get much better than that. Um, and he also got his payday too, because he originally was like, Oh, I want to stick around and get paid. And it's like, okay, well, that's fine. So, I mean, he he got he got the bag, and then now he he got the move too. So that's incredible for him. Honestly, I think it makes sense for Cleveland too. Like, I mean, they've already done a good job, I think, of like trying to start a rebuild and just acquiring more picks and more like future talent um to build around. Like, I I their window is gonna be in a few years anyway. So and at that point, Miles Garrett probably isn't the asset that he is right now. So, I mean, I I I think it ends up kind of being a win-win for everyone involved. Um, saying that the Rams can hopefully like actually contend for a title. I mean, if Matt Stafford stays healthy, then I I think this really works out in their favor.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Yeah, I yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Oh, I was just gonna say I'd be interested to see. Obviously, I know the Rams don't have a ton of assets to trade, but I'd be interested to see how long Jared Verse is in Cleveland. Yeah, because I would have preferred if I was them, I would have preferred more picks, but he is very valuable. He's one of the most valuable defensive ends in the league. So I'd be interested in the floor. It's like it's already not that young.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

It's a true tearing down.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm interested to see if they keep him or try to flip them at some point of like, okay, let's get more picks for him.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

I know the NFL purists or the NFL, you know. I mean, I'm kind of an NFL dick rider, but I know like the guys. That our NFL is king. Don't believe that teams tank in the NFL, but the Cleveland Browns are tanking for Arch Manning currently. Yeah, definitely. And I think we'll see maybe more of it. Maybe not just Arch Manning, but just this recruiting class or this draft class in general. Dante Moore, too. It's so decent. It's so good that we're going to see teams clear out, right? Like, you know, uh, and so yeah, I think it was the right move for Cleveland. They weren't going anywhere. Miles Garrett won it out. I know they kept, they made him happy by I think they gave him a huge payday last year. Um, and I I don't even think I remember Todd Munkin, like right when he got to Cleveland, he was like, Oh, I haven't talked to Miles, like, and Miles isn't showing up, like not bitching, he wasn't necessarily bitching about it. He's just very honest about it. He's like, Yeah, Miles isn't here, like, doesn't necessarily need to be here. And he was kept missing stuff, right? Um, so I think the writing was on the wall that and kind of when you bring in that new coach, you know, it's like, well, you're not gonna keep the guy around that uh that is that is on his way out. So we'll see. Cleveland will be really bad, Miami's gonna be really bad, the Jets are gonna be really bad. Those are three teams that I think have given up before the year's even started. So we'll see though. Um, but yeah, also too, Rams, obviously. I mean I'm not root for the Rams. I do not like the Rams, actually. I know everybody I am I am the LA guy, but not a huge Rams believer. But it's hard to not kind of the NFL fan inside of me is is a little excited for those those Madden-esque kind of uh trades are always kind of fun to see uh pulled off. Just always excited to see uh kind of Twitter light up look the way it did.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

The type of trade where when you're playing Madden, you feel a little bad because you're like, ugh, I don't know if they'd make that trade in real life. Yes. But also sometimes they do.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Yeah, very also very much like Madden, the fact where it's like, well, my team's already really good, so I'm just gonna keep trading my first round picks for veterans because I'm just gonna stay good. Yep, that's what the Rams essentially's mindset is. It's like, well, we just constantly have good players on this team. We'll just constantly end up in the final four, and nobody's gonna care about our pick.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

And anyone who I'm well, I mean, you need to be able to draft well in the later rounds to be able to like support that.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

I think they have. And I mean, Jared Verse uh was uh, I mean, good enough to be a trade piece for Miles Garrett, right? Like, that doesn't happen if you drafted freaking Clinton Farrell. Um, so yeah, no, they they're like I said, I texted you guys, they're just kind of playing, they're playing a different game over there in LA.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

They are. I feel like Farrell gets a decent amount of strays on our podcast.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

I know, I feel like this is not the first time I've thrown a straight turtle. Number four overall pick, man.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

He was on that season of hard knocks, though.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Yes, John Gruden. He was John Gruden's pick.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

And Crosby was the one that ended up good.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

No, no wonder they leaked the emails after they he drafted that guy, and they're like, Wait, what did we give this guy? What contract do we get this guy? Oh, we have to terminate him with cause? Okay. Um, all right, I'll get into my nuggets. Um I'll st uh you know I'll kind of transition a little bit in the NBA. Um so I I was inspired by a YouTube video I watched today. Shout out to Andy Hoops, but obviously a topic that has always been discussed is who is going to be the Wemby. And obviously not the Wemby. It used to be the unicorn. Um, because obviously Wemby is a young guy. But you know, as long as we've been watching the NBA, there's always been these kind of unicorns, really long, lanky guys. I think Kevin Durant was kind of the model archetype for a while. Uh now it's kind of like this Wemby style, where this 7-3 guy that can handle and shoot. No nod to Christopz. I have a list. I have a list. I said in honor of Wemby getting to the finals and kind of getting there for all of those failed unicorns. I thought I could list a few unicorns and maybe, or former some failed Wembies is what I'm calling them. And uh, if you guys had any more, I have a few listed, but I'll run through a few.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

I got one right at the top of my head.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Who are you thinking of?

SPEAKER_02 25:56

Um, the guy Wemby just uh beat.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Chet. I was I thought of I have Chet on the list question mark. I'm like, he's a unicorn, yes. I guess he went number two overall, but in what way in what ways is he not? Yeah, you're right. Yeah, he's he's definitely a unicorn.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

He can shoot, he can handle, he can uh defend the rim. He just he just can't play against all your head, Justin.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Otherwise, I can start with my list.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

I was just gonna say on Chet. Chet's an interesting one because I was even I guess Mackie and Judd, Judd wasn't there today, but Doogie was on talking about Chet, and they were like he was like second in depoy voting, and it's one of those he is a very good player, and obviously he had a a rough a rough series last week, but he's a very good player, but he is one of those players where he just struggles against actual big guys, like he's a depoy when he's playing against most NBA teams, but it's like okay, now you go up against it's like it's the quote the 300 looks like a phantom until a phantom pulls up. Like that's what it that's what chat kind of looked like last week.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

Yeah, uh that's a great analogy.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Not yeah, chat chat could be on that list. I mean, he had a good year, right? I think. I mean, I know he he kind of failed in the biggest moment, but I I still believe Chad will be a decent player. Um Bull Bull. Remember Bull Bull? He was supposed to be kind of a guy. Yeah. I I guess in the scouting reports, they said he just didn't he acted like he didn't give a crap. He just acted like he wasn't going to take coaching. And he's thinking like he just wanted to be on the couch. It was, it was where people were saying in the scouting report, but uh he had Mo Bamba. Uh he came out with a lot of hype, got his own song, obviously. You know, he was not as much of a stretch guy, but you know, was long and lanky, and I think people kind of thought he'd be just blocking eight shots a game, kind of in that in that Wemby vein. Yeah, Fawn Maker. Throw back to Thon Maker.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

Oh, yeah, dude. Thonmaker was the truth for a little bit there.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Was like the ultimate like internet secret. It was like you saw clips of him when he was like in like years before. I didn't I didn't even I remember not even thinking he was a real person until like the NBA draft stuff, and it's like, oh, Thonmaker's like like actually like a person like that can play in the NBA. I don't I don't even know. Yeah, I thought it was like an enigma to me. I thought he was gonna be like a draft deal low-key. Yeah, went number 10 to the Bucks, um, and just never took off. That was when the Bucs were in their era of just drafting really long, lanky players. Obviously, ended up working out with Giannis, who I would also say is a successful Wemby, one of the few successful Wembees. Um, but uh yeah, um could you argue Wemby's is a successful Giannis? You could maybe. You could maybe. I mean, it hasn't won MVP yet.

unknown 28:44

Chris Dass.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Chris Ops was the first Giannis. Yeah, Chris Dazperzingis. Chris Dazperzingus was the first or the first Wemby, sorry. Yeah, he was the first one to be crowned a unicorn, I believe. Yes, he was the OG unicorn. Yeah, yep. Um, he started off hot, got injured, and then like just pissed off everybody. Just I guess was like kind of a massive douchebag. He pissed off the Knicks, went to Dallas. Well, he was always hurt, too. And it was always hurt, yeah. But he was fun. I I I remember I'm I remember I miss the uh the Christoph's hype here.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

I mean, I think he's still gonna have some attention here this offseason. Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

I would imagine that isn't he just disappears for a while.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

Oh, because he just gets hurt, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

But he has he has one a ring, he he won a championship with the Celtics everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

Yeah, he was on that Celtics team, he was awesome.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Yep, yep. Oh, wem.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Chris Opps would be a not bad Rudy replacement, depending on money.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

Yeah, good point.

SPEAKER_02 29:32

I mean, I guess for 30 games, yeah, yeah, he's kind of a ball. Hopefully they're like the right 30 or 40, you know.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

Uh Ben Simmons, I know what unicorns are typically centers, but six-nine point guard. I mean shoot a lick, but he'll figure it out one day.

SPEAKER_02 29:47

I mean, he's like a baby LeBron, not like a baby Webby.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Kind of a kind of a kind of a freak, though. You know what I mean? Yeah, I guess. Given for his position.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Um he was like when Ben Simmons, that's another thing. We all I always say kids don't understand this, like they don't know how good Shaq was or how good Kawhi how good Kawhi was, how he's top three when he's healthy. Um they don't know how good Ben Simmons was for like a three year stretch. Yes. I mean that's that's when Colin was saying LeBron, we're good. Yeah, could have might have ruined Ben Simmons' career. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 30:23

People thought people thought the when the 76ers got Paul George, or not Paul George, Ben Simmons and uh Embiid, they thought they were gonna be what the Spurs are now. Like that and I don't even think that's ridiculous to say.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

No, not at all. Like especially in hindsight, if we knew that Embiid would be this good had Ben Simmons just stayed what he was, which was an all-NBA player, like two years into his career. Like, I I think they thought Ben Simmons was gonna be the MVP.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

Yeah of the league. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

So it's crazy. That's just yeah, that is a he was unicornish. I mean, except the one thing he needed to be able to do, he couldn't do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Well, also, like, he just clearly didn't like playing basketball that much.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

He was just like he was a good basketball player who like liked being a basketball player, but didn't like playing basketball.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

He clearly made it in his head, right? Like it's like, okay, I'm getting paid now. This is what I was saying, you know. Right my whole life I was gonna do this. I'm here now, now well, I'm you know, I'm gonna do something else. Not not care about basketball. Start fishing.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

Yeah, he he's kind of what the draft haters thought ant was, how he felt about it. Yeah, for sure. Like I play because I'm good at that.

SPEAKER_02 31:35

I I think that was some of the concern with Ant, like coming out, was as I recall, was that he was like had a little Ben Simmons in him, which is just kind of a football player, which is kind of insane to say as like a just a D1 basketball player.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

Like I guys are like that. You can get away with talent and skill, but he went to Georgia, which I guess maybe you're like, okay, why didn't they want to go somewhere we could win? Because he wasn't a McDonald's all-American. But I mean, his family was sick uh or had passed, I think, sick at the time.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

And he lived with his sister and her son. So it's like, oh, I just want to be my family.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

He was with the support system essentially. But um I think it's like I don't know. If he didn't want to play basketball, I don't think he was gonna. I just don't know. If he didn't like it, I just don't think he would be as good as he is. But I mean, clearly. Um, but some other ones here, I had Drogenbender. He uh went number four overall to Suns.

SPEAKER_02 32:25

Yeah, forgot about Dragon Bender. That's the fun draft. I forgot that, dude. Yeah, damn.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

No, definitely uh he was a unicorn.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

What about Lowry Markinen?

SPEAKER_00 32:35

Okay, I saw I was looking at him. Uh Lloyd Markinen, I think, ended up being kind of good. I think he is, I think he was kind of unicorn.

SPEAKER_02 32:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Yeah, he was unicorn.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

I mean, when the Bulls drafted him, I I do remember that was kind of the the thought there that there was like a parallel to Chris tops.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

Um, and then these last two I have question marks on. Lonzo ball, he was 6'5, he was a number two overall pick, was uh kind of athletic, not necessarily a unicorn, but kind of a kind of a freak, I guess maybe is probably the way to put it.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

I no, not for me.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Fair.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

I mean, I'm thinking like a true, like a dude that is an alien. Like, like the that is like the unicorn thing, and like Lonzo Ball's not that.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Yeah, fair, fair, fair. I I figure because of tall guard, I give it to him. And then this is a cat, maybe. Yeah. This is why I also threw in unicorn or our question mark by was Zion Williamson. Failed failed failed unicorn, failed Wemby.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

With how big he is and is even was coming out of college, and the fact that he was that athletic, I will give you that. He's a freak. He was he was like a freak, he is a freak of nature.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Watching him, it was like, how are guys gonna stop him? Because he's so he was so big, fast, and he was fast and strong, too. It was like, oh, he's like a defensive end if he was like figured out like how to play physical and the end like basketball like and was skilled. Yeah, he had great touch, he would just fly and just lay like the way he could get offensive rebounds in his tip-ins. I'll I'll never visually it was very stunning watching Zion jump off the floor.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

Yeah, since you mentioned him, we talked we talked about him via text. Uh, and possibly Jace Frederick wrote in an article on the wolves going for him, uh, which I was out on. After I watched some specifically Zion versus Wemby highlights, I'm fully in on Zion if he wants to test it out Minnesota for a year.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

I didn't get the angle of like being out on him, like and kind of comparing him too much to Julius, because I was like, the difference between him and Julius is just their efficiency. Like the worst shooting year Zion's ever had is like five percentage points better than Julius' best shooting year because he just makes shots. So it would be like getting a younger Julius who just makes shots instead of misses them.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

If the if the wolves could get him and do what they did with Julius, because Julius was in phenomenal shape for the last year and a half, if they could help Zion do that, he'd be an all-NBA player.

SPEAKER_02 34:54

Yeah, I I mean I totally agree. I I again I think the knock with Julius, like it's not as much like his game or like style of play, because I think that like if you have the right guy in that role, like it can work. It's just that he is just inefficient. Like he turns the ball over and he shoots like he does not shoot an effective enough clip to be doing what he does and to be taking all the shots that he does.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

King or I guess before you move on, where was Justin Patton on this list of unicorns?

SPEAKER_00 35:22

Justin Patton.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

Did he did he not make the list?

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Uh did not make the list. Uh we'll honorable mention start of the start of the rebuild. Start see he was the a building block of what we are today. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

We needed for the new era of the canon event that had to take place.

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Exactly, exactly. We would not be here without that. If we didn't trade for Justin Patton, we'd never get in.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

A necessary casualty.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

Exactly, exactly. Um, okay. I think we'll kick it to Jackson.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Yeah, for my second nugget, I was gonna give us a little finals insight here. And I touched on it a couple weeks ago, like Justin mentioned off the top, that I mean the Knicks just keep making every single shot like they're just gonna be a problem. And I found a stat that actually backs us up. The Knicks starting five um is shooting 53% from the field this playoffs. The last starting five, uh, to post comparable numbers in uh in a similar sample of playoff series and games. Like you have to play like three series um to be able to kind of qualify for this. Um they were the 86 Lakers. Um, one of the most dominant finals runs that we've ever seen. So we might just be in the midst of greatness right now.

SPEAKER_00 36:28

Yeah, I mean, some teams just get, I mean, they're a talented team, so I don't want to say they just got hot, but uh, they're obviously playing pretty well. I think something that people forget about the Knicks is I mean, they were in the conference finals last year. This, this, the scores had a decent run.

SPEAKER_02 36:42

Um, obviously, I know the East has been kind of down, but um Well, the fun thing about the East though is that it's been like the team that's like playing the best basketball at that time that ends up kind of making it.

SPEAKER_03 36:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

Um, not that like if you're gonna make it to the finals, obviously any team that like is is playing like good basketball at that time, but typically like in the West, it's more teams that have been dominant throughout the year. Um but like the Pacers are a great example of that last year, um, where they were just playing bat like good basketball at the right time. Uh, we go back to some of those like heat finals, uh, where that means they were just playing the best basketball at the at the right time, even like the Celtics um kind of just caught fire and it felt like they were like this undeniable force that was just kind of rolling through. So and I I think it makes the East kind of fun and um it should make the series hopefully interesting if the Knicks can continue to shoot it like this. I just I am worried that the teams that they've been able to beat along the way are just not quite of the same caliber as the San Antonio Spurs or the teams the San Antonio Spurs have beaten. Yeah, you know, like beating the Wolves and beating the uh Thunder is very different than beating the Hawks and the Cavs.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

Uh just yeah, did you guys do you guys see that tweet about the paths to the finals and it was on the West? Someone tweeted, I saw the quote tweet, and it was like, damn, the Timberwolves. And it was like the last three or the last four seasons, the champion um, I guess besides Boston, uh, played the Timberwolves on the way there. Yeah, but yeah, I mean never the bride, man. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:14

It's probably why I'm not cheering for the Spurs because I'm kind of sick of that shit.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

The Knicks, uh I mean, last year, Kat's first year there, Kat's been a three-straight Western Conference conference finals. It's been a three-straight conference finals. This team just ran into a red-hot Pacers team last year, a team that had a at least a coin flips chance to beat the Thunder in the championship, uh, if not for the Achilles tear. Um, so I think last year they probably were the better team. It's just in pro sports teams are so good. If you run into a team that's hot, you're just cooked that night. Uh, so I'm I'm glad to see they were hot. Yes, they didn't have the gauntlet to run through in the east like the Spurs did in the West, but they also have, I think they should be a lot more healthy. I'm very interested to see each series, every playoff game Wemby plays. I'm interested to see how well he plays, and he's continuing to do it. Um, but he's a smart five guy. Yeah, he's a seven, five guy playing a ton of minutes. Uh, and I think next year, uh obviously, look, this is looking forward, but I'd be interested to see how the Spurs do next year. Like, just think how hard it is. Even the Thunder, who were what they win, 65 games this year, and then they lost because it's like, oh, they're coming off a month more of basketball, yeah, just making it two series further. Like, think of the difference between the Thunder and the Nuggets, like how much more basketball the Thunder have played.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

And it's not casual basketball either, like which is worth noting.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Actual it's the time of the season where you do play 100% effort on both sides of the ball. Yeah, um, so this is, I mean, I do think it's gonna be a good series. The question is how inevitable is Wemby, and I mean, Champagny Poppy is just freaking hitting every kind.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

They're just they got good shooters, man. They just we were talking about during the well-built team, they just play really good basketball and they're really consistent. Like, if a guy's not having a good game, kind of like how the Thunder War lots, like they just don't need it's not like they rely on a guy, right? Obviously, they have their stars that they rely on, but like their supplementary stuff, they're not like kind of hoping and praying. It's like a system that just produces, yeah. Kind of like the the Celtics, kind of when they won their finals. It was like not it was not to diminish any of the players, but it was like, okay, if that you knew how to shoot and you were a smart basketball player, like their system was just working, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:38

Well, that's what I like about this matchup too, is that like these two teams are like the two best teams at finding the right guy every possession down, um, that that I've seen. Like, I mean, you just don't see a lot of forced possessions. Um, kind of the antithesis of watching the Timberwolves a little bit. Um, but the the ball just kind of floats around and it it finds the right guy on like 90% of 90% of possessions, I would say. I mean, really, like I feel like the the ball finds the right guy every Spurs possession unless Stephon Castle turns it over.

unknown 41:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

Yeah. And I I mean, when that tweet came up uh with the the Tim Rules teams that lost to all these finals teams, I did click on it and in the quotes was a replay. It was like highlights from the Denver game when we still had Cat and looking at the spacing of those Wolves teams. I mean, if you're a Wolves fan, you're trying to figure out how we can compete in this stacked conference. You have to look at both, like look at the Knicks. The Knicks could win this series. I think it's gonna go six or seven either way, but the Knicks could easily win this series. I think it's close to a coin flip, in my opinion. And it's they just look at all the space on the court, they can move the ball around, and then you look at a team like the Timberwolves, like Jackson just said, it's clogged in the middle of the court. When you watch us, it's like, oh, you have Ant, and then where Rudy can do work is literally just in the dunker spot, where Julius can do decent work during the regular season. It's from the free throw line in. Jaden lost his three-point shot in the playoffs, so he was mid-range in. It's like, oh yeah, these uh the teams that actually make it far have to be able to actually play basketball and pass the ball. It can't just be isolation possessions.

SPEAKER_00 42:17

Unless you have Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosch in their play.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

Yeah, that's the only literally the only time where the year, I mean, the heat lost to the Mavericks, and then the next season, they're like, screw it. We're just gonna get a driving layup or a driving dunk every single possession.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

But even then, remember they And then we'll have Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers and that was a big reason they struggled with the Spurs and eventually were toppled by the Spurs, yeah, was because they got dismantled by the Spurs passing game and just fundamentals.

SPEAKER_02 42:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 42:47

Not saying they weren't fundamental, but it's just it can't be a hope and a prayer. And I mean, I feel like that's just what that offense kind of is. It's like, okay, well, if we're hopefully our best player gets a good shot, right? Like that's what it starts with.

SPEAKER_02 42:57

Well, ball ball movement's always been the great equalizer, right? Like it it's the way that you're able to and in basketball, it's the way you neutralize any talent deficits that like you might have to overcome. Is it it's by moving the ball, and that's why like I think the Spurs and and honestly, same with the Thunder a little bit too. Like, both present just awful matchups for the wolves because they're so solid defensively that it's like the only way that you're gonna be able to kind of like out-talent these guys heads up is like ball movement, and they fundamentally don't do it. So um I don't know. Just food for thought for the future for uh different wolves builds, and I don't know. It does hurt me a little bit to see Kat playing like the most efficient basketball he's ever played, like not for the wolves. Like I texted you guys, but it's like part of that just because he finally got off the wolves, and now all of a sudden he's like, I I don't care how many shots I take, like I just want to like play efficient and win.

SPEAKER_00 43:44

Yeah, I don't know. I think it's that. I think it's you know, I did the wolves ever ask him to do anything different, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. Totally. You you know, when you're kind of the king of the castle, right?

SPEAKER_02 43:56

It's hard to I'm not saying it was cat's fault. Like there's that that wasn't What I was trying to insinuate at all.

SPEAKER_00 44:01

I don't even think you were. I I mean I think it was it could have been two-sided bit. I think it was probably complacency on Kat's end. And then two, the wolves probably I can't imagine they ever sat down and had a tough conversation with him about, you know. He didn't really become a good defender until the team like Rudy showed up, and then he kind of had to be, right? Because there was another guy there, and it's like, well, they can't drag ass anymore. But no, I I I do get what you're saying. Um on the on the cat front, but we'll see. Either uh either cat's getting a ring or uh Joe McLaughlin's getting a ring. Yeah. Two other guys that were uh a part of the uh part of the uh the build period.

SPEAKER_02 44:37

Yeah, the rebounding numbers for cat now like kind of blow my mind. Like I get that like Root Rudy was like pulling down some rebounds, but it's just like his consistent effort on the glass that you see him out there with now is just not what he was playing with at the end of his Wolves tenure. Like at the beginning of his Wolves tenure, he was definitely like out there like hustling for boards, but like by the end of it, it was kind of just dragging a little bit, like three-point line to three-point line at times. And I'm like, I don't know. I just I feel like when Kat was at his best with the Timberwolves, was when we were kind of getting him going to the cup. Um, like it like the best cat was when we were swinging the ball around and he caught it on a rotation outside and he was open and he knocked it down, or when we had him like with the ball in his hands, kind of like trying to get downhill. Um, even like as a passer too, very willing passer. Um, like some more of that initiating stuff. And I it's just it felt like they were never super interested in actually running too much of that for him. It was kind of more of like a gimmick, like, oh, give ant a break, like or like they're putting too much pressure here, or ant's off the floor. Like, now it's time for Kat to do something.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

And I think that's why you know fans, I mean, there was a lot of right kind of backlash. Or after the Wolves lost, right? Everybody, everybody throws out their ideas at the end of the season when a team loses, right? What went wrong? Everybody has their opinions. I think that's kind of why you stall people be like, Well, we started trading Carl City Towns. Because so much of our offense literally was okay, Aunt You try. Aunt you try. Okay, that's not working. Okay, well, Kat was good enough to be like, okay, well, give it to Kat. You know what I mean? Like, he's a 25-point a game guy. Like, it's your turn to try. And I feel like fans are like, Well, we shouldn't have got rid of Kat, like he was our second best player, which he was, and you can't really replace like his scoring ability. I mean, that's literally I mean, he's worked on it, but that's kind of also God given the way he could score the basketball. But I feel like that's why fans are like, Oh, why'd we do that? Or you know, why would we get rid of a guy that you can do that with? Um, but yeah, I think to your point, you know, maybe we should have tried something different. You know what I mean? Like maybe there we should have tried a different formula uh when you have a guy that talented, because not every 25-point game scores don't grow on trees, 25-point game scores for seven foot don't grow on three. So I can shoot. But no, it is what it is. I mean, also obviously it was a CBA thing, which also I want to go back to. You know, people are talking about the Spurs, the Nick, or the Spurs and Thunder. Thunder are a little different because they're very pick-rich, but they still have to, you know, hit on those picks, and young players are young players.

SPEAKER_02 47:01

Yeah, I mean, they're just built to dominate in this new cap era.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

But Spurs-wise, I mean, the the CBA is the CBA, like they have to, they'll have to play with that. They'll have to pay Wemby, they'll have to pay Castle. I mean, they have Jaron Fox now. Obviously, those are you know, they have three really good players you can pay, right? Like, that's kind of the dream, right? Um, and Castle, uh, Hart Harper and Wemby. Um, but they'll they'll have cap casualties uh like any other team that this this is how it's built. So hopefully, as somebody who's hoping that the Spurs don't go in a great dynasty, like I want them to be good. You know, I love I love the NBA. I kind of I like the buzz that Wemby's kind of brought to the league. Like I do appreciate that, but you know, I don't want to see him win the next five rings. So that is why the CBA they created is in place, supposedly. Thunder's a different story, but I don't know. Now they're already feeling it. Now they're like, should we keep chat? Should we move them? And then they have the the arsenal to move them or replace them, but still, you know, they're they pay the guy and things change when you pay guys. Things change.

SPEAKER_01 47:58

Yeah, the Thunder are interesting because they're gonna be super expensive, but they're they're also like the team that could go on to win the championship. The Thunder can be Thunder can say to themselves, we didn't have our second best player and our best bench player for most of the series. So it's like, oh um, the Thunder are still very scary. Don't let the Wolves going to six with the Spurs team that could win the championship. Also, the like the biggest six-game blowout I've ever seen in my life. Yeah, oh my god. They want us when it matters. Um don't like trick yourself as Wolves fans thinking, oh, we're very close. We played went to six with the Spurs, and then they beat the Thunder. Like, yeah, they beat a Thunder team without players.

SPEAKER_02 48:41

The Wolves love dropping that egg at the end of the series, dude.

SPEAKER_00 48:43

Oh my god. And that was something they brought up in the press conference. I remember the exit press conference with Finch and stuff. They're like three straight years where the seasons ended with you getting destroyed. Like getting it. I know it's one of 120 games you play in a year, but that's not good.

SPEAKER_02 48:57

Um the wheels just shouldn't fall off like that.

SPEAKER_00 49:00

Fall off, especially when the it's a vibes team. Obviously, it means the vibes have left the building.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

The bus is yeah, I mean the bus is still moving and the wheels are just off. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

Yeah. Oh, I had something to say, but I cannot remember it off the top of my head. So uh Justin, uh, we move on to you.

SPEAKER_01 49:16

Okay, I was gonna talk about um Adam Silver was talking about expansion today, so I was gonna touch on the Wolves being the rumored favorite team to move out east. Uh, but I kind of want to I'll wait a week, see if there's any more stuff on that, and probably closer to the draft, we'll actually learn what the plan ends up being because it sounds like they want to move quick on it. Um, so I'll bring up I'll bring up the hometown hero, uh, not in a Joe Maurer sense, but Minnesota sports legend Royce Lewis um over in St. Paul right now, absolutely raking.

SPEAKER_00 49:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:48

Uh and I I asked you guys today at what point is the twins, and this this goes not just within this coaching staff. There's been many hitting coaches here since the Bomba squad year in 2019. Uh and guys will dominate, they'll come up hot their rookie years, and then they will just fall off a cliff. Like even Luke Keyshaw last year, before he got hurt, yeah, looked incredible. And it's like, oh, is he gonna do what Royce Lewis did? Um, and this year he's I mean, he's fine, he's just not doing anything great. But Royce Lewis goes down to triple A, where yes, pitching is much easier, but you got Twins fans clamoring for Caleb Culpepper to come up, which I am one of those Twins fans, and Caleb Culpepper is not hitting half as good as Royce Lewis is down there. So my question is what's going on with the Minnesota Twins and their is it a hitting coach problem? Is it a is it development all the way up through the minors of these guys are taught to hit fastballs, but they can't hit anything else? It's just it's very annoying when you look at like the MLB top 100 prospects list, or let's say top 25 prospects from each year over like the last 10 years, and all these guys come up in their kind of cornerstones on their teams, which in baseball it's I'm not all of them, obviously, it's baseball, but the good teams have their prospects come up and they play real minutes, yes, um, impactful, impactful minutes, or at bats, I guess, in baseball. And the twins it's just like, oh yeah, you got at one point we had the top two prospects in baseball, Buxton and Sano, and it took Buxton 10 years to actually figure it out, yeah. To the point where he was like, Oh, maybe I just need to I get older, I become a vet, and I learn how to hit from other players as opposed to the coaches that are coaching.

SPEAKER_02 51:33

Seriously, that type of thing. It it took him so long to figure out how to hit off speed, it was ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 51:38

No, I I think that's a really fair point. I mean, they really haven't developed a homegrown hitter since Byron Buxton, and like you said, that almost doesn't, it's almost took so long that you can't even really call it their own development. It's just like his own personal growth uh as a as a person. So no, that's a good point. And I I was at the Saints game, uh, I went to his second game, I was in town two weeks ago. I went, um, open Memorial Day, and he hit two more home runs of the game I was at, or maybe one, I can't remember off the top of my head, but there's a lot of guys on that triple A team. Aaron Sabato, there's there's a few guys hitting pretty high. And I like you said, I know it's triple A taking it worth a grain of salt to a certain degree, but I mean it's better than you know not hitting well. So, yeah, it does make you wonder kind of what there's clearly a disconnect. And I think Royce, you know, he's kind of getting a little snippy in some of his press conferences kind of towards the organization, it seems like. So I definitely think there's some broken trust there for sure.

SPEAKER_01 52:34

And I was, I was just as you were saying that, I knew he hit the two home runs last night. I didn't see the second home run until today. I saw his like 115 mile per hour home run early in the game yesterday. And then when I texted you guys, it was after I saw the second one earlier today, and now I just saw that he had a grand slam today. Oh my god. So it's like, okay, what's going on? Yeah, where it like is it a confidence thing? Are you guys like I just want to know what's going on in the clubhouse? Is it a clubhouse thing? Is and I've heard even though the twins are, I mean, they're struggling, but they're in the AL Central, so it's like you always have a chance.

SPEAKER_00 53:12

Um 500 damage chances here, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:16

But and I've heard good things about Shelton. I know people kind of like the vibe he gives. Um, but the twins got to figure it out. They've had all these like for a while, they started drafting college hitters because they were like, oh, we have let's get college hitters, they can get up here quick. And even a Trevor Larnik, who's having a decent season now, it's like, yeah, eight years into his career, once again, feels more like he learned how to hit from Byron Buxton than he did from the coaching staff. And it's just a problem in in baseball. Who knows? I mean, there's a lot going on with um the salary cap, and maybe if there's a salary floor, development will become less of a thing. But honestly, I think development development's always gonna be big in a non-salary cap league. Development's huge because you need to develop guys. There's a reason the Rays are always good, but even in a salary cap league, development is still huge because that's how you separate from everyone else that's yeah, it's still a massive asset.

SPEAKER_00 54:11

Like you you're still allowed to have all these players you have control over with the potential of being like a star, right? So, yeah, development will still be huge even with the salary cap thing. But it yeah, I mean I did see this. The way the twins have been building teams essentially my entire life has been middling star, middling prospects that don't never reach their potential, mixed in with like cheap veterans that have a few tricks up their sleeves and maybe like one good run and them left. And it's clearly not sustainable. I mean, the the twins haven't really had an era of baseball success. I mean, if you want to call that Carlos Correa era, you know, I wouldn't even call that really an era. And I really wouldn't even call the joke.

SPEAKER_01 55:00

What? Such a weird couple years of twins baseball.

SPEAKER_00 55:03

And I really wouldn't even I wouldn't call a bomb squad an era necessarily either. They went to the playoffs, I know, too, in like 20 what, sixth or 2018, 2016, 2017. They went randomly in 2017. Yeah, Brian Dozier hit the leadoff home running against the Yankees, but there's no continuity. Those those those those teams live in different kinds of stories. So yeah, I don't know. They haven't been able to build, like, you know, I know people want to like help these small markets out, give them money and not to go on that rant too much, but it's like, well, if you can't develop hit guys to hit, then it doesn't matter how much money you give an organization. So I say that as a cynical twins fan, though.

SPEAKER_02 55:41

Yeah, I mean in a small market, you have to be able to like invest in hitting coaches. Um, and that seems to be like a systemic problem. I think we've talked about it before, but I mean it's just it seems to be a systemic issue for the twins that they just can't seem to figure out.

SPEAKER_00 55:53

Is it just like I feel like it's lack of investment? Like it just has to be. I just feel like they don't care about it as much.

SPEAKER_01 55:59

And it's it's not good when like I'm not sure if you guys saw Simeon Woods Richardson quote today, but going to Toronto, he's like, I'm happy to be on a team that knows how to develop guys. And it's like hey, that seems like it's kind of a direct shot back at you guys, so kind of figured like they gotta half of these Minnesota sports teams need to hire like Cheryl Reeve when they're just to help consult on who to hire to develop talent and how to build a team because she's the only one that can do it year after year, no matter who she has on her roster.

SPEAKER_02 56:32

Dude, she's a beast.

SPEAKER_01 56:34

She is, she is. We'll probably be talking Lynx Championship in a couple months.

SPEAKER_00 56:39

Hopefully, I mean last year they were really good, and then the wheels fell off. But he's not even back yet, though. That is true. That is true.

SPEAKER_01 56:46

T's not back, and this was supposed to be the rebuilding year that everyone was worried about. Best team in W in the Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:51

I mean, we're just speed rebuilding with the best, like with the rookie of the year.

SPEAKER_00 56:54

So yeah, the like future, I guess, like the next super. Are we like low-key the Spurs? Could be.

SPEAKER_01 57:00

Probably are the Spurs the W.

SPEAKER_00 57:02

I mean, they could I was about to say people hate us in the I guess we haven't won in a while, but do people hate us? Like, if we were to like win, like if we were to win last year, where people like, oh my god, like god damn it, the Lynx are already back again.

SPEAKER_01 57:14

Probably. I mean, Olivia Miles, the way the Wolves backcourt played, Olivia Miles probably could have got some minutes against San Antonio.

SPEAKER_00 57:22

She gets some runs. She could definitely no, you couldn't tell me she couldn't keep up. Ricky Rubio-esque. That's what I'm saying. She had the ball. And she doesn't scream and cuss out her coach after having a poor performance and her team getting blown out.

SPEAKER_01 57:35

Well, but that's Carver, that's on the coach for not getting the player ready to play.

SPEAKER_00 57:42

That and that is she should know better than to try to coach Caitlin Clark because Caitlin Clark is a god and knows everything and has never done anything wrong on a basketball.

SPEAKER_01 57:52

Oh shit, you're talking about Caitlin. I thought you were talking about Julius, honestly. I was gonna say same boat, same boat, same type of player.

SPEAKER_00 57:59

Appears on my TV.

SPEAKER_01 58:01

Um, I was gonna say the what I learned today though, at first I thought the Chris Finch quote about Julius was uh I I took it as I'm gonna rip on Julius. Chris Finch is trying to defend him, but then I was like, wait a minute, Julius needs motivation to get going. The $35 million doesn't do it for him. It's actually a good thing because he doesn't care about the money. That's what I realized. Yeah, it's about it's about the same thing. Yeah, he doesn't care about money, so he needs motivation.

SPEAKER_00 58:29

It's about what the money means.

SPEAKER_01 58:31

Yeah, exactly. I hate when athletes say that. It's not about it's not about the money, it's about what the money means.

SPEAKER_02 58:39

Yeah, that pretty much means it's about the money then, right?

SPEAKER_01 58:41

Yeah, sounds like it's about the money then. At the end of the day, it sounds like, and it's usually the guys who want to take a pay cut, and their agents will be like, it's about what the money means. Sounds like the agent wants some money and the player wants some money.

unknown 58:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:57

Okay, uh, I'll move on to my last nugget here. We'll talk about it, it'd be a quick one, but I kind of we I missed it over the weekend, obviously. Um, this whole JJ McCarthy soundbite, the the K one, Kyler Murray, um, I think it was OTA's last week. Is it the classroom one? Yeah, it was the classroom quote. So I we've all um and it's been clipped, you know, it's it the the comparisons of JJ McCarthy's answer compared to Kyler Murray's answer about I guess them being on them being teammates. And you know, I it sounds silly, but and I'm not the obviously the the the kind of the JJ McCarthy writers kind of came out and you know said, oh well, he should be upset that you know there's somebody in there, like and kind of also ribbing the Vikings, like the Vikings should be developing him, like this franchise hasn't proven that they can really develop. And I get that, I get that. But the kick close with JJ McCarthy, I think is ridiculous. Like the statement he said about the classroom was just immature, and he didn't articulate how he was feeling very well. And I'm not calling, I mean, I'm I'm only what six years, seven years older, kid, I'm not that much older than him, but the way he described it was immature, and I think when you're already battling kind of those those narratives, and let's be real, he's put things on tape, like the the gritty, the him calling himself nine, which you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:23

I love that so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:24

I exactly like the nine thing, it goes back to the rule. I was talking to my remates about it for Kim. You can't give yourself a nickname. If you give yourself a nickname, you open yourself up to criticism, then that's exactly what he did. Um, and some of the other things he's just done, and I you know, I like the meditating thing, and I like the always positive stuff. But when and like I said, I think he was trying to come off as hey, I'm a little irritated, but like whatever. It just came off as immature. Just say you're here to compete. Say we're working hard, I'm working hard to like get this job. It just to me was like another small strike. But again, and I'm not gonna just I'm not gonna come on here all so all every year or every podcast and bitch at the fucking JJ defenders, but the JJ defenders need to just realize that he is doing things wrong. And he's taking these L's, and it's not just people hating on him, but it's just him kind of getting in his own way at some times. And like, yeah, he could be. I hope he has a great camp, and I hope he's a starter week one because that means that he got a lot better, and Kevin O'Connell thinks he got a lot better. I truly believe that that's why that decision would be made. But if not, then why are we freaking out about him potentially sitting behind that, you know, a former first-round pick, guy who's been in the league for eight years, that we have on a one-year commitment? Like, I'm not saying we think Bryce Young is gonna be great, but Bryce Young, didn't he not literally just get benched for a guy with much lower prospects, Andy Dalton, just because you know, the time it kind of is what called for it in the moment. I'm sure JJ McCarty, JJ McCarthy's gonna start again. So I just think that these JJ fans are upset because it's presumed that Kyler is going to start, and just the general sense on Vikings Twitter and things are that you know Kyler's a guy, at least going into this year. And I just don't know why they're so upset by like maybe the Vikings taking the idea of putting a guy on contract, right? You can't go anywhere, on the bench and letting him learn a little bit. He's clearly a little immature, he's only 22 years old, 23. Like, I don't know. So a lot of stuff going on there, but the video was immature, the sound bite was immature. I'm not like trying to rip him, but it's just like, dude, come on.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:30

I'll I'll put the contrae in here. I didn't think it was that bad.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:33

Fair.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:33

I I think it got a little overblown.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:35

It was overblown.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:36

Like people really got upset about it. I'm like, I don't know. I think it was a bad analogy. Like, don't get me wrong, like I think the analogy was just stupid, but I also think he's stupid. So like I don't know. It's like, oh, like a uh emotionally unintelligent guy says something stupid. Like, I'm just not like that. Didn't really move the needle for me. I I was just like, I think I get what he's trying to say. It's just that it's business as usual, like we're gonna be professionals, is what he like. That was the message I took from it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:01

Why, but why how can he not?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:02

But he he just he used a stupid analogy because he's a stupid guy. Like, I don't know. Like, that's just that that is what it is. I mean, it's nine, dude. What are you gonna do? I I I I don't know. I get it just it wasn't like it wasn't that big of like an indictment for me. Um, I do get what you're saying though, um, and I do agree that it does feel like um he's kind of handled with kid gloves, and I don't understand like what the like there's a particular sect of Vikings fans that feel like they owe it to JJ McCarthy to like defend him and that he like this is his spot and that he's like entitled to all this. And I'm like, I just don't understand that at all. I'm I'm like, dude, did you not watch enough of him playing football last year to be like I'm not impressed anymore? Like exactly, and that's clearly he's not ready to play if we're trying to win games at a high level. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:44

I'm tying like the kind of the antics into that as a guy who I'm like I kind of just rhyme with guys on my team, if you can't tell. Like Julius Randle, like I'm not I haven't been defending him the last few weeks, but during the regular season, I'm like, well, he's on team, so like you know, I can't, you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:59

The epitome of being a Rudy Gobert fan.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:01

Exactly. A Rudy Gobert, exactly. The moment he's off my team, I'm gonna shake my wash my hands clean of him.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:06

Hall of Fame switch up out of meme.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:07

Exactly. That's why it was kind of so different for me to go after a guy like Kirk Cousins, because he usually wrote for the guys and hopefully they figure it out. I think the sentiment with Vikings fans is that we all want JJ McCarthy to still be good. I just think we need to pause the whole experiment. And I just we it's like, did you guys not watch last year when we just declared him the starter in fucking May and March, and then everything was in the shitter by the September by September 30th? The the Vikings coaching staff and organization is trying their best to avoid that. And I I I mean, I'm not saying like it's the best thing in the world long term, but last year was maybe the worst year of Vikings football I've watched, and they finished with a winning record.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:51

It was the by far the ugliest team I've ever watched play football. I can't I looked up earlier where when we said something about the Lions, I was like, oh, it's probably when what's his face? Javon Hargrave. We were talking about the Packers, but I looked at division standings and I was like, no way we won nine games last year. That was the worst division. The worst offense I've ever seen play football. And for like you both said, there's this group of Kyler Defenders have not watched a lot of Bears football, but that's fine. JJ defenders on like on Twitter and on the internet, and I'm like, why are we defending this guy so much? Like they're the types I obviously I can't say for sure what the reason is. I have some opinions on what the reasons could be, but like Kyler Murray could win a Super Bowl with the Vikings this year, and they would be like, well, JJ McCarthy probably would have done the same if given the right uh like the right coaching. Um in every you're talking about the coach who every quarterback who's played with them has had their best like a career year, and then this guy comes in and all of a sudden, now if he had a broken hand. I get it. I'm skeptical on that because if JJ McCarthy had a broken hand, the second he walked off the field with a broken hand, there would have been a press release before the game was over that he broke his hand. Yeah, to defend to protect him.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:12

He should be out the next four weeks.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:13

I was talking about that at the time, and it felt like it was not getting enough air that I was like, they're just making up injuries for him to like pad his ego, which is unbelievable that you have to do that for a professional athlete.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:23

It was before they went to London when he got hurt and like they announced right away that he was gonna be out for like a month. And it was literally the first thing to break on Monday. I was like, oh, they're they're protecting him.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:35

And the ankle injury stuff that I believe because I saw him limp off the field.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:39

And I believe that he was hurt, but they were very eager to get that news out there that he was gonna miss the next month. I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:45

Yeah, and it's it's one of those, like, okay, if it was a broken hand, he probably shouldn't have played then. Like you might not have wanted him to play at all, uh, if that was the case. But yeah, the if like there's I obviously have my grievances with Kyler Murray, but I'm also the same guy who's has said Kyler Murray is a top five athlete of our lifetime by far. I mean, the dude was a top 10 pick in baseball and the number one pick in football. His best season, he's a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. Like, his Kyler's worst season is better than what JJ McCarthy was last year. So these defenders that like we got guys defending Daniel Jones level, like Daniel Jones rookie year level of play, and at least Daniel Jones could run and score touchdowns his rookie year. It's like, oh, you guys are going out of your way to protect this guy who is just not shown anything. And yeah, he's 20 years old or whatever. Yeah, but it's just annoying.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:43

I like JJ. I want, like I said, if JJ was a starting quarterback the next eight years because he was good, I would be very happy. But it's like, dude, he hasn't done anything for you. He hasn't done anything. We've all watched, we're all fans. Nobody hates, nobody hates the quarterback that like has only played eight games. Like, we're all cheering for the quarterback, but yeah, I don't know. I don't think anybody wants us to be in a situation where we're giving Kyler Murray five years, fucking 245 at the end of the season. I don't think anybody wants that, but I just don't think anybody wants what we did last year.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:13

So but I will say if Kyler was willing, this would never happen, but if Kyler signed a three-year, $30 million contract, making 10 a year. So if he had the same rest of the contract as JJ McCarthy, JJ McCarthy wouldn't touch the field again for the Minnesota Vikings. JJ fans hate to hear that, but Kyler Murray is a like what have we seen that is to think that Kyler Murray isn't a vastly better football player than JJ McCarthy. Yeah, no, I just have nothing. Besides the fact he's young and quarterbacks can develop, but like Josh Allen was the most raw one. Josh Allen was the most raw quarterback I've ever seen, and he figured it out pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:52

I also playoff. Yeah. Yeah, no. No pushback for me on that one.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:58

Um I yeah, I don't understand the blind loyalty to him, but we figured it out. Um Quick, do you want to give uh finals predictions?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:08

Yeah, uh, we'll give finals predictions to wrap it up here. Uh it's about 6350 Spurs in the set with in the third quarter. So just to give fair context to the timing of our predictions. But I will take Spurs and my bad. I'm gonna take Nixon 7. Um, I'll take the more veteran team. I know they haven't been through the gauntlet as much. Um sorry if they hit that three, it would have been out by 16. But I know they haven't been through the gauntlet as much. I was actually maybe thinking they would sneak this game, but I do think they'll get one of these games in San Antonio. I just think it takes you gotta you gotta do the steps. I know that people, because of the Thunder last year, they kind of just arrived on the scene, but they were good the year before. Um I I just don't think that the young Spurs are just gonna win it right in their first year. Um so I'll just I'll take the veteran team to get it done in seven. I think New York, I think MSG will be a difference maker. I think the Knicks swept those Spurs in the season series, too. I know it doesn't matter for that.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:03

That's not true. They didn't? No, they split.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:05

Okay, they split.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:08

Um I have a Spurs in five. Um I just think that San Antonio and Victor Omanyama specifically presents too much of a challenge. And I I don't know, dude. Like I've the entire time throughout their playoff run, I was like, it's too early for them. It's too early for them, and it hasn't been. So it's kind of it's kind of like when you're watching um Indiana uh play football, and you're like, at some point you just gotta stop saying that you know it's Indiana, yeah, you know, like oh oh it's it's too early for the Spurs. Why? Why is it? Um because of like some like historical bias that we have. Like, I mean, if the team's good, the team's good. So um this team is really good, and I haven't seen anything to make me think otherwise. So um I think it's gonna be Spurs, they get it done on their home floor in five.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:51

I'm gonna go with Spurs and six. It was gonna be Knicks in seven. Um, but right now, obviously, it's we have a slight edge betting this midway through the game. Uh so Spurs have a 13-point lead. But yeah, Spurs and six, based on how it's going, if game one repeats every game, it's Julian Champagny Poppy winning finals MVP.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:14

True, yeah. He is popping off in the street. Scoring wise in WMB.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:18

It's a Champagne Poppy uh summer, so shout out to it. It is.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:22

It's definitely AI, right? All right, well, thanks for joining us. Uh little uh BTL Pod episode 191. We hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed it episode. Uh share with a friend, coworker, customer, anybody enjoy what we talked about. You can follow us on Twitter or Twitter on Instagram Podcast underscore zero. Back to next week. Top final football as well. Well, World Cup back to next week too. I've got to go to the city. Oh, let's go, yeah. That's what we look for. A lot to talk about, a lot to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:02

That'd be great. Oh, Josh Jacobson's comeback.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:07

Josh Jacobs is his comeback.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:08

That's true.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:09

We knew Benny is not welcome on this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:11

Come on. Lock him up.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:13

Throw away the kidney. He was a known good guy in Oakland and he went to Wisconsin and all of a sudden beating his wife.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:21

Yep. I'm sure the fans won't matter. But see you next week. Peace.