UCLA / Michigan / Auriemma / Masters / NFL Draft & More W/ B Kirms

We react to UCLA’s championship and the controversy that follows UConn’s loss, then pivot into why March Madness stays unpredictable even when the best teams look obvious. We finish with Masters picks, Tiger Woods’ latest headlines, early NFL Draft takes, and an honest NBA playoff outlook shaped by injuries and seeding fights.
• UCLA’s title run and Lauren Betts as a top WNBA prospect
• Geno Auriemma’s postgame conduct and why it becomes the story
• How distractions and narratives affect teams after big wins
• Michigan’s championship and what size plus coaching changes
• WNBA draft timing and the fast turnaround to the season
• 2026 Masters odds with a value case for Xander Schauffele
• Tiger Woods’ legacy weighed against repeated off-course incidents
• NFL Draft top 10 picks, team needs, and a first-round sleeper
• NBA playoff race, OKC as the standard, and Lakers injury concerns

Transcript

Welcome And Sports On Deck

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And welcome, welcome, welcome, everybody, to another episode of Real Talk. Doc, you doing all right today?

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Yes, I am. We're honored to have a special guest do the intro, man. A lot going on in sports. Fast and serious, baby.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Absolutely. So much going on. Of course, we have champions in the men's and the women's uh NTAA tournament, uh, NBA, the playoffs are getting ready to start. Um, of course, the NFL draft is coming later this month. So there's a lot that we have to talk about. And the Masters, Kimfig, the Masters are starting uh tomorrow, in fact. So we have a lot. But B Kerms joins us. What's up, B. Kerms? How you doing, man?

SPEAKER_02 0:34

I'm doing good, guys. How you doing? Doing good, man. Welcome aboard, Brady. Welcome aboard. Let's do this.

UCLA Title And Postgame Controversy

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Absolutely. So, Doc, we we're gonna start with a little bit different. Uh, you know, we're gonna get to the men's in a second, but Doc, I know you have a lot to get off your chest as related to the women's uh side of the bracket. So, Doc, without further ado, the floor is yours.

SPEAKER_02 0:54

Congratulations on uh the coach at UCLA and and and and Lauren Betts, you know, who came back from last year's debacle B. Kerms and won it all, man. She reminds me of Moses Malone, you know, big physical rebounder, and uh she'll be a top pick in the WNBA draft. I didn't expect a route over Thorn Staley's team. It was good to watch UCLA out here in California, be Kerr's them all, and do their thing, given that they got blasted last year, and it's their first championship ever. But that's not why I want to get it off my chest. I want to get it off my chest because the way Gino Oriema, the coach of UConn, conducted himself relative to a devastating loss, a route, you know, against uh Don Staley's South Carolina team. Um professional. It was um beknown to all the fans that this was coming. And I guarantee had Don Staley lost, she would have showed class and not went on a rant. It's one of those things that's a bad optic, if you will, B. Kerms. There's a big man going against a small woman and a black woman at that. You know, I had to put that in there because she doesn't want to start in trouble with anybody. She has three or four chips at South Carolina. Just take your loss and go home. Congratulate. And she did shake the hand. What mess Gino up is that he thought his player got the jersey ripped off when she did it herself because of frustration on the South Carolina game con defense. So she ripped her shirt off because she was having a bad game. And Gino, trying to protect his player, thought it was the refs and Don Staley had an impact. It was just a bad deal, man. And it's one of those things where all the dialogue has been directed toward Gino Hurry, and it's bullshit ass uh apology, a statement the next day, fellas. The next day. And didn't even address Dawn Staley by name. And that's atrocious in and of itself. A lot of women people don't watch women's college basketball, but this guy's been dominant for the last 10, 15, 20 years and has six or seven chips. And you conducted yourself like you was a rookie, you know? Yeah. And uh, she did shake his hand, by the way. But it's just the way that he conducted himself after, you know, the uh uh after the game, after getting trounced. He should have been all over Don Staley and praising her the way they defended her and uh his team. But, you know, it it just goes noted, man, that all the hard work that he did through the past decades goes for naught because of the way he conducted his uh toward the young coach. And so props to uh your UC, I mean uh UCLA. And uh you can argue that the distraction missed South Carolina. That's why you didn't see that route coming. He routed Don Staley. You had to be razor sharp, uh uh invested and focused, and that took away from Don Staley's team, and nobody's gonna tell me different that UCLA trounced them like that. Because two nights earlier they were distracted big time. Everybody's talking about, they weren't talking about the great victory over Yukon, they were talking about that, and that had to be a distraction. I refuse to believe that South Carolina's 30 points or 40 points worse than UCLA in the final game. But congrats to UCLA and Dawn Staley, and she she'll be back. And I love Lauren Beth. So that's it right there, fellas. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah, it was it was it was definitely a bad look on Gino, and I think he was just frustrated overall with everything, with how the game was going, and he he needed to take that frustration out. And I think he realized as he walked off the court uh that you know that that's that's not that's not how you handle it. You know, he he knew he was wrong for for what he did. Um and and Don, you know, it's it's what do you want me to do? Do you want me to not defend myself and to not? What do you think? Uh oh, I I think I'm gonna name her. Kim Mully from from interview with LSQ. If you if if he goes up and does something to her, well, you know she's gonna fire back. So I hate that people are looking at it like, oh yeah, well, well, Don's this, Don's that. She's defending herself as if any strong woman, black or white, would defend themselves if a man came up to them, you know, caught you off guard and yelling at you about something, and they're they're probably wrong about it. So it's it's a it's a bad look, a bad situation overall. Um, you know, Carms, I don't know if you have anything to say about this or you know or not, but yeah, it was it was it's definitely a bad look. Yeah, go ahead, Carms.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah, what I'll say is um, like I said, I didn't really I I've heard I've heard about the story. I didn't get too deep to it. I'm just gonna go by from what I've read and heard. Based on what I'm hearing on the radio and social media, there is very, very few people defending Gino Oriema, and I get that. And I heard an interesting thing too. Here's a guy that's pretty much been dominating this sport for what 30 years or more, and now he's got competition, he's got Dawn Staley, he's got Kim Mulkey, he's got the UCLA, um, USC. Pat Summits sadly is not coming back. So who's the next? So it sounds like Staley's the next or the second best coach in women's basketball. Maybe you can say she's the best now. I don't know. But this guy is used to dominating a sport for so long, and now that things aren't going his way, he's having a very hard time um handling it. And I think that's I I hate to say it, I think that anyone who's in a position like that, um, when things go your way for so long, and all of a sudden now you got somebody that feels like maybe you're stopping on their turf, um, they don't handle it very well. Maybe he feels a sense of entitlement. Uh, I don't know, but um it doesn't excuse what he did. There's no question about that.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Absolutely. Yeah, we'll close it out this with this real quick. Uh, I I just think this is a hot button topic and took away from what Don Staley accomplished with South Carolina and to some effect UCLA, because that was not a game when South Carolina paired UCLA. The fact that he waited, gentlemen, a day and didn't even mention Don Staley by name. He said South Carolina and the staff. He didn't go after the staff at UCLA or the team. He went after Don Staley. Announce her name. Jesus. What kind of man are you? And I will close it out with that, fellas. Go ahead, Marlon.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Absolutely. So Michigan, uh, they did win um uh it was like a round or two ago. A lot of people had Duke uh, you know, going all the way and winning. Um, but you know, of course they didn't get there. They ran into Yukon and they uh made it to the final, but fell short uh against Michigan 69-63. Uh Kerms, I'll go ahead and start with you. Thoughts on the tournament uh in general, and then thoughts, of course, on Michigan uh putting up a banner uh in this year's uh March Madness.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Well, my initial thoughts were my bracket was awful. Um I had Houston winning the whole thing. I had Houston winning the whole thing. I think I lost the first four games uh of the tournament, and after a while I'm just like, okay, I'm not gonna, it's just not gonna be my year. So um, you know, I picked Houston. I figured maybe this is the year Calvin Sampson finally gets it done. He's always got some great athletes. So I took a shot with him. Um from what I saw this year, yeah, Michigan was just, I'm not surprised they won the whole thing. I originally was gonna pick them to win it all, but everybody's gonna take them in these pools. I'm like, all right, maybe I'll just switch it up. Stupid, stupid move by me. But yeah, I mean, you watched when you watched them against Arizona, I thought that game was gonna be close. That game was a snooze fest. They just dominated them throughout that entire game, which I was shocked by. Um why Arizona laid an egg like that, I'm not sure. Maybe there's maybe Tommy Lloyd got distracted too much with the talks about him possibly going to North Carolina and then he just signed a new contract. Um that being said, you just you gotta give Michigan a lot of credit. I mean, Dusty May is a hell of a coach. Um you know, I I think I heard one of there was a transfer from UCLA that's on Michigan. Didn't get a lot of time. Yeah, the center. Go ahead. Yeah, and uh man, what a contradiction uh contribution he makes. The one thing I noticed about Michigan, I mean, a lot of these teams have size. This team had size, and their athleticism was just above other teams. I mean, you don't see too many six guys, six ten, six eleven or so, move like that. I mean, that's what stood out to me the most. So the fact that they won this national title, I was not surprised at all.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

Yeah, I think the piggyback on that on and uh the size alone. They look like a football team. R is 7-3 or 7-2, and then you had their best Big Ten offensive player of the year. I can't pronounce his name. He's playing on one foot. He made huge contributions in the final four. He sprained his foot earlier in the first game of the final four. But Cadeau, the guard uh from San Bernardino, California. You know, he was a transfer. It's just one of those things where it was just their year. I hate to see the tournament go. It went by too fast. I go back to Cal Baptist University, my daughter's school when they played Kansas. They made a huge run, got it within six. You talk about St. John's and their run, you know, Kentucky. A lot of great teams went down and out. And then the shot of the year in college football for many years was in the Mullins or Yukon, knocking off Duke. And um, you know, trip to that just hit a three-part series, give him credit for passing a rock when he was double teamed immediately after the stolen inbound play by uh Yukon to give it to a young kid, the freshman Mullins. He took it from the top of the key. Curry-esque. So yeah, uh, it's been a great tournament, fellas. You know, I expected more out of Arkansas and Darius Acuff. A lot of freshmen showed up. Of course, Booze, Duke, didn't know. Okay, the Bonds at uh BYU went out early, like B. Kearns, my bracket was gone. That BYU in the Sweet 16. That Florida going deep, you know. I Arizona winning it all, but that's neither here. That's why you love chaos. That's why you love college basketball. See course someone and the big out biggy guy called B. Kearns, Michigan was just too well coached, and size does matter in college basketball, and the guys can move their feet. But I think Cadot, the um MOP, you know, of uh of the Final Four, he's he's gonna, I don't I think he's coming back. I don't think he's a senior. He he was dominant, dishing the rocks, shooting threes, and then he had the other guy coming. He was coming off an injury. So Michigan's year, man, you know, and that's the way it is. And uh the Big Ten rules in all the sports. Going back to college football, you know, UCLA is a big ten. You gotta watch yourself and call it back 10 T. They're Big Ten. They just won it all. So yeah, congrats to Michigan fellas and the coach.

WNBA Draft Timing And Players

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Okay, all right. So um, so we have uh a couple more of the things to get into. Um of course, the uh the this just announced is what we're just talking about women's. Uh the season for the women starts May 8th. Um, the draft, I believe, um it I don't think the WBA draft happened. No, it happens, it's coming up uh next week. Uh later this week or next week. That's when the WNBA draft is. Uh and then the season starts on May 8th. So it's really weird with the women kind of a quick turnaround, but they have the the tournament a week later draft, and then season starts uh three weeks after that. So we will look into uh to that. Of course, we'll have all of the um certain games, uh, you know, circle, you know, uh Angel Reese. I think she now is with the uh kinetic kit. No, she's with the dreams.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

No, she's with the Atlanta Dream.

Masters Predictions And Best Bets

SPEAKER_00 12:31

She's with the Dream now. So yeah, so we'll we'll we'll we'll dive into that a little bit later. But okay. Uh we do have the masters that's starting next week. Uh Norm, every year we've done this, we've got Gibby Karms on. He gives his predictions on the Masters, uh, some sleepers and all that stuff. So, of course, you know you have your names like you know, McEroy, Scheffler, uh, you know, you know, Cam Young, all the names, but uh just a comment to everybody. So, Karms, uh, this is your time. Uh, any predictions that you have on the masters, any sleepers? What are your predictions on uh the 2026 Masters?

SPEAKER_01 13:08

All right, well, first off, I'm looking at the weather. The weather's looking like it's gonna be absolutely perfect. Um high 70s, low to mid 80s. Um, so depending on what they do to the course, like if the Greenskeepers water it, um, I don't know if the scores will be very high. They're probably gonna keep this as firm as possible. Um, but um, in regards to the odds, yeah, I got DraftKings open right now. Uh, your top three are Scotty Scheffler at 5-1, John Rom at 9-1, and Bryson DeChambeau at 10-1. You can't go wrong with these. I mean, Scotty Scheffler has made the top 10 four out of four of the last four masters. I believe he's won two Green Jackets. So, you can't go wrong with him. But to win two in a row is always hard. Five to one odds, don't really love it there. So I did a little research, um, looking at the season goes. I'm going with Xander Shoffley. 18 to 1 odds. Um, he has his last three masters, he is placed in the top 10. And I'm actually looking at some stats here. Uh outside of one year since 2019, he's made every cut and has finished no worse than 17. And he's one of the best players in the world. First two tournaments of the year, he didn't start really good, but he's got three top 10s in his last four tournaments, including the Genesis at Riviera in California, which is one of the toughest courses on tour. And then you've got another top 10 at the players at TPC Sawgrass. So at 18 to 1, you're not gonna get him at those odds a lot this season. And based on the numbers, he's overdue to win this. He's already got two majors in his back pocket. He's halfway to the career grand slam. So at 18 to 1, I think he's the pick.

Tiger Woods Trouble And Legacy

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Oh, that's a good analysis, B. Kerms. And Marlon, for the record, I'm learning from B. Kerr's because I don't know squat about golf. I might have one eye on it. But it begs the question, uh, B. Kerms, given that you're a golf fan, what's your take on the latest incident with Tiger Woods, who is still revered in that community? People still look up to him. And when some of these golfers that you named were really, really young, they looked up to Tiger Woods. But these incidents keep coming up, man. Does he need to just retire and get out of the spotlight? Does he need to just be one of those fans that just sits back like a Nicholas and just watch the put your name on something, stop driving? Well, what you should take, just ugly stuff, year after year. Injuries, not an accident, and now you didn't check yourself in the rehab. It's just a bad look for one of the greatest athletes in the history of sport, regardless of sport. Your take, B.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Yeah, Doc, it's a sad story. Like you said, um, people have looked up to him. I mean, I've been watching Tigers since I was 14, 15 years old. I mean, this is almost 30 years ago. Um, I mean, what he's done for the game of golf is just incredible. Now, will he go down as the greatest player ever? That's debatable. I mean, it's right now you would say it's probably him or Jack Nicholas, and let's see what happens in the next decade or two. Let's see what Rory does, let's see what Scotty does and other players. But just for what he's done um as a player and as an ambassador for the game is just um incredible. And yes, it's re it's it's sad to see what what's happened to him um between I mean, injuries are injuries, it sucks. But I'm sorry, if you're a multimillionaire, you might even be a billionaire at this point. I mean, I don't know. Yeah, um, and you're out driving and you get pulled over and you get you know pulled over for a DUI and it sounds like he didn't even have an alcohol in his blood blood. I think it was just um drugs or whatever. Um, but still, I mean, this is the second instance something like this has happened. Dude, you got more money than you can think of. Hire a personal driver and stuff. And when he says something like, Well, I like to keep my privacy, well, if you like to keep the privacy, I would say hiring a private driver and not driving by yourself where more people can see you, that I don't buy that right there. So it sucks what happened to him. Now, do I think he's gonna retire? No, I think he's just too much of he's too much of a competitor. I'm not saying he's gonna win a masters again or anything, but you know, maybe he'll start playing on the senior tour more, maybe he'll win on that. But um, like it it's unfortunate. Whether you love the guy or hate the guy, um, for what he's done for the game and where he's at now, it's just it's just sad to see.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Yeah, that's a good point. I got nothing to add on that, man. All you can just say is just a human being in general, just keep praying for him that he makes right and correct decisions, man, because eventually he's not gonna get walk away from these incidents, you know. And uh these luckily the first time about five or six years ago out here in Rolling Hills Estates when the car rolled over. So there you go, right there, fellas. Whether it's painkillers or alcohol mixed with painkillers, just get your life in order. The golf game needs you from a perspective of just being a human being. That's all I got on that. Good response, Precairs.

NFL Draft Top Ten And Sleepers

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Absolutely. Okay. All right, so uh one thing you may not know a lot about golf, but you know a lot about the damn draft. So uh we'll talk a little bit about that, and I think we'll wrap up with uh a tiny little bit of NBA. But uh on the the NFL draft is gonna be about three ish or so weeks away. Um so Doc, I don't know how you want to play this. Uh I know we don't have a ton of time, but I don't know how you want to play it. Do you want to just give your top ten? You want to give some some picks, some guys that you love? Uh, you know, you tell me how you want to run this.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

Well, I love uh well, my top five athletes, regardless of position, is of course Caleb, uh Caleb, uh I mean, uh yeah, Jeremiah Love, the running back out of Notre Dame. I love him as a pure football player. You got RVL Reese out of Ohio State, the edge rusher, about 6'4, about 255, around a 448. Of course, first the first pick of the draft is going to be Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders. And they need, they need a playmaker. They need a guy that can call their own and groom. That's why they signed Kirk Cousins. And then that's a good signing to groom them, to learn from. But uh, I got Sonny Styles, the number three, is an instant from Ohio State also. Again, Caleb Downs, they safety from Ohio State. You can put him in a corner in a pinch, but to me, he's one of the best group football players in the second year that we've seen in quite some time. Uh, this draft is predicated on size, the line of scrimmage. You got offensive tackles, you got edge rusher. If you want to go edge, you can go David Bailey out of Texas Tech. You can go Ruben Bain out of University of Miami or his teammate Akeem Mesador. If you like tackles, you can go Monroe Freeling out of Georgia, or Caden Proctor out of Alabama. But my top five, my top 10 picks right now, Raiders go the Fernando Mendoza route, Heisman winner, 16-0 Natty. You can't go wrong with it. Jets at two go Arvell Reese, the edge rich at Ohio State. Cardinals at three go Francis Mauga, the big offensive tackle from Miami at 325-6-6. The Titans go Jeremiah Love to help out the young quarterback, Cam, you know, because you got to have a running back. I know it's mighty high, but this guy's a playmaker. Blue chip five-star playmaker in the draft. Number five, the Giants go David Bailey, the edge I reference out of Texas Cats. The Browns at six. They go Carnell Tate, the receiver out of Ohio State, ultimate playmaker, you know, for whoever's playing quarterback down there. I'm all up there in Cleveland. And uh number seven, I got commanders going Sonny Styles, the linebacker. They need defense, they lost a lot in free agency. The linebacker at Ohio State. The Saints, I got them taking Makai Lemon, the wide receiver out of UFC, who is like a Drake London clone. Same school, but a little bit more speed. The Saints got their little quarterback uh, you know, ready in the second year. Number nine, the Chiefs. And yes, the Chiefs are drafting number nine. Gotta get used to that. Caleb Downs. Caleb Downs. Yeah, I got them taking the safety. Not offense, but defense to help out that D, you know, out of Ohio State. And then number 10, the Bengals go Ruben Bain Jr. the edge, since they lost Hendrickson, you know, uh to Baltimore. I got them taking the edge range for the Bengals. Now I'll I'll I'll continue. We'll continue to go over the next 10 or uh rehash the top ten or nothing in the coming weeks, but there you go right there. But right now, uh this draft is predicated on offensive tackles and uh uh defensive. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Okay. B curves, what you got?

SPEAKER_01 21:48

All right, well, I love the analysis there by Doc. Um I'm on ESPN site right now and I'm looking at um Peter Schrager's latest mock draft. Uh it looks like the Jets are two, it's either gonna be David Bennett. Bailey or Arville Reese. He's got him taking David Bailey. I mean, both players are supposed to be studs. The player that intrigues me the most is Jeremiah Love. Doc, like you said, you got him going four of the Titans. He's got him going number four of the Titans. My conc I from what I've heard about this kid and you watch him in college, yeah, he looks like he's gonna be the next um you know what? I'm gonna say Saquon Barkley's example because this is what this is could possibly turn into. Um as great as a player he was, Giants took him at two, and outside of like one year they made the playoffs, the team is still not good. Yes, you want to have a great running game. Um but sometimes I'm I get worried about these teams, they get a little too excited with the player, and you're not do you're not taking care of your needs. Um like you said, um, Doc, you got Washington going to the um taking Sonny Styles at line um at seventh, and I've heard nothing but great things about this guy. And it's yes, they absolutely need defense. I've watched I watched every Commander's game last year because my wife is a fan. Um they're either gonna go with that or they have to protect um Jaden Daniels. So if one of those tackles is there, like Finaud or um Moaga, if he falls there, I wouldn't be surprised they take him. I think at seven they're in a pretty good position there. Um based on what I'm reading here, Doc. It looks like, yeah, this is a very, very deep um defensive edge, uh defensive line draft. Um the one I'm shocked I will be surprised here is he's got Caleb Downs going to the Cowboys at 12. I will be absolutely shocked if this guy falls out of the top ten. He is absolutely sensational.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Well, that's a good point. I I I I got him in my second or third overall player, you know. So yeah. Yeah, it's interesting. Uh my surprise player, if you will, and you might agree with this deterrence. I watched a lot of Oregon out here, but Kenya Sadiq, the tight end, I got him going 13 to the Rams, and they got the 13 Creekers miles Falcons inexplicably gave up a one for this knucklehead called James Fifth Jr., who got him here. That's another story for another day. But Kenya Sadiq ran a 438, a 4'37 at 6'4, 247 pounds, the tight end. That's giving Matthew Stafford another weapon that he can get over the top with Devontae Freeman. Of course, Puka and the Coolers has his issues. But uh I'm all in on the Rams trying to win it all with Kenya Sadiq. The only tight end I got going in the first round, this guy's a playmaker. You can put him out wide as a receiver. 437 speed ain't no joke for his size. So yeah, that's my surprise pick. I will take an offensive tackle as a surprise pick, but those guys, man, it depends on the learning curve and the footwork. So yeah, I'm going there with that. I like your analysis, B. Kurns, but yeah, I gave him my top 10, and it is what it is. Maybe I'll switch it up, but we'll get further into the draft. I mean, move close and added college basketball's over, Marlin. But yeah, you got my surprise break and my top 10. Let's go, baby.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Very nice, Doc. I love hearing that. Yeah, you got um Peter Traeger's not one thing after the Rams. You got Sadiq going to the Ravens at 14. Um, I get that too. Mark Andrews is getting older, but um, Sadiq to the Rams is just who's gonna stop that offense? Puka, Devontae Adams, you got um Tyran Williams in the backfield. Doc, I'm curious. Um, where do you see Ty Simpson going in this draft?

SPEAKER_02 25:24

I got him going in the second round, maybe some team or trade-up, like Steelers. He's not a first-round pick. We got to stop reaching for quarterbacks, man. And, you know, he has some skill set, but he fell apart badly in the second half of the year for Alabama. In fact, Georgia in the SET title game really blew him out, you know. And so 15 stars, Pete Kern. Just 15 now. That's not good if you're talking about a long NFL career. That's why Bo Knicks, you know, had such success because he played a lot of football, damn near six years in college from Auburn to Oregon. 15 stars doesn't do it for me. I got him going in the second round, maybe mid-second, you know, and uh take it from there.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Awesome. Sounds good to me.

NBA Playoffs Outlook And Lakers Injuries

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, man. Hey, I'll I'll I'll I'll the next show I will allow myself to talk charges at 22 to satisfy Marlon's quest for what they're gonna pick, but I just want to give you the top 10 today. But go, I know you want to win some NBA in real quick, Marlon, before we go. Go ahead. I love the draft.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Yeah, that's the last thing I think we have is as far as with the NBA. I know it's gonna be uh a tough uh stretch for the Lakers, obviously, with uh two of your your three best players out. Um that's gonna be tough, but we will see the play-in uh starts exactly next week. Um, so we will see what happens with some of the teams like the Warriors and the Clippers, the Suns, the Blazers, uh, Heat, Magic, Sixers, and the Hornets. Those would be the uh play-in games that we'll be watching. So um so Doc, where are you at? Are your Falcons or Falcons? Your Hawks are looking pretty decent at right now at five. So just your thoughts right now on NBA and the playoffs, and what what are you expecting?

SPEAKER_02 27:14

I'm looking forward to it, fellas. And I say the East Coast is gonna be more entertaining because you know in the West is gonna be either OKC or the big boy Wimbayama in San Antonio. But in the East, given that Kate Cunningham and Detroit, they you know, Kate Cunningham is uh a severe injury, a collapsed lung, and that's gonna have messed them up. Of course, you got the Knicks, you got the Celtics, you know. Um they everybody said that Tatum rushed back. I don't think so, man. He's balling out. Yeah. Well, Hawks at five, we're steady at five because Toronto Raptors is falling apart. So but now, the loss to the Knicks at home in Atlanta becomes first mind hawks a little bit for momentum, but we're still holding fast at five, you know, and uh I just like the way the East is shaping up. The Knicks ain't no joke, man. They brought their A game to Atlanta last night, but you can try to go with the Celtics. And no, I'm not a Celtics fan. He's going back to the mid-80s with Bird Parrish and McHale. They destroyed and they ran the East back then. They destroyed everybody. But you got to give it up to them, man. Jalen Brown, White, you know, and and and uh Tatum. That's a deadly combination when they're all healthy in fusion. And the West, I'm looking forward to seeing where the Lakers end up. It's devastating injuries as ravaged that team. You didn't see that coming. Just last Thursday, there was gonna be uh a participant, possibly for the NBA Western Finals. Now they're gonna struggle to keep the three-spot, given that Denver is red hot. The Nuggets were choking B curns and Marlins. So that's gonna be a string. If the Free Hughes is a dark horse, I would say Ant-Man in Minnesota with with uh you know Ober. They might they got a lot of experience, and I I think Ant's gonna be healthy. That's why they're holding them out. The Lakers, I hope they hold on a three, but I don't know, brother. That's your call on that one, Marlon and B curns. It just hurts, man. You know? Devastating. I'll see you like things. I gotta go with LKC, even though I like number number. I like the way in limited minutes, he's putting up sick numbers, especially on the defensive side. I know SGA is putting up heroic numbers for a guard. Not even Jordan did this thing, but you gotta I'm I'm a big guy, I'm going with Wimbayama. Go ahead, B. Kerbs. I ramble.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

I mean, is anybody gonna beat the Thunder again this year?

SPEAKER_02 29:36

Good point. Hope the Spurs do, but it goes nowhere.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Go ahead. Yeah. No, that's I mean, the Knicks have finally been good for a few years now. I mean, for being bad for so long. I mean, out here in New Jersey, people are excited about them. But uh, you know, of course, when they get when they start getting better, the Celtics just get even better and better. But so, um I mean, we'll see what happens. Um you know, like I said, it's it's gonna be hard to beat Oklahoma City, but it sounds like the Spurs are doing really good as well. Uh yeah, so that's what happened to the Lakers. Um if if I mean I don't know what's gonna happen to them in the playoffs. I mean, LeBron is still there, so obviously that'll draw some heads at national television and stuff. But uh yeah, I'm just wondering if anyone's gonna beat the Thunder this year. Um, but it sounds like the Spurs and the Celtics are probably their biggest threats.

unknown 30:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

The first two rounds, Marlon, to answer your question is gonna be exciting, but I want to hear what you see from your Lakers, man. Bring it.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

I I I never had high hopes just going into it. You have Luca, that's great, but also you have a 41-year-old LeBron. You have AR-15 and Austin Reeves, which is great. Um, but and you have your role players, you know, Kenneth, Vanderbilt, uh, Aiden, you know, all that stuff, Kennard. But I was just never confident that you can go up and beat a team like uh the Nuggets, or even beat a San Antonio. Um so that there's just uh OK C. There's just a lot of teams that I just wasn't really confident going into. So I think we can be fine and we can figure out how to find a way to make the playoffs. But once those playoffs start, it's you know, sometimes when you're when you're down uh you know 1-1 or down 0-2, can we get out of that hole? Can we find a way to uh win in some of these hostile environments? I mean Houston's a great team. I don't think we can beat Minnesota, honestly. Um the Clifford's a better give us a run for our money. So it's especially with the top three teams uh in LKC, San Antonio, and Denver. Those teams, at least with LKC and Denver, they've got experience. So they they've been in these situations where uh yes, LeBron has you know the the titles and Luca's been to the finals, but we don't have the chemistry that some of these teams have that for the most part, their core has been there for some years and they know how to how to win. And so I've never been as confident even before the injuries that we're gonna make it far and even make it to the the the Western uh semifinals, western half the finals. So yeah, so I I obviously now it's a dagger. LeBron can only do so much. AR-15 is not gonna be back for at least a month. Uh Luca, it looked like a brutal hamstring injury. So I know he's rehabbing and they're getting the thing massaged out and all that, but uh, I I I I can't see it. The season, in my opinion, as as a Lakers fan, the season's over. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

So yeah, I hear I hate to hear you like that. Yeah, I hate to hear you. It's a big market, big fan base. It goes loaded, man. The injuries can kill all kinds of chances, and you were balling out too, beating Denver on the road and some other teams, but yeah, it's it's devastating, brother. We were playing our best. Hold on one second, Doug.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

We were playing our best when it matters the most. And then, of course, the injury bug happened. And and at that point, you can't depend on LeBron so much. He's gonna play every playoff game, but you just can't depend on him so much. So now do you just rest him for their end of the season because you know you're gonna need him, but also two, LeBron's not the defender that Austin Reeves is. You know, he's not he cannot score at the ability that he needs to score at this point in his career like Luca can. So it's you know, yes, LeBron can score, but Luca's more dynamic at this age. Dude's only 25-26. So, yeah, it's it's it's tough. But I don't know that we get out the first round, Doc. Sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 33:37

Yeah, it's gonna be interesting, especially the early rounds. Some you might see a few games be stretched out to seven games, but eventually the better teams and the top C is gonna take over. Uh OKC ends up winning it again, man. You know, as young as they are, if they can get on a uh a mini, you know, uh dynasty run a la Golden State when they won three out of four years. So uh I'm looking forward to seeing the playoffs. It's this big boy now. College is over. And I want to see some of the storylines, man. I mentioned the Knicks, I mentioned my Hawks. Does Embiid and 76ers? Does he stay healthy? I love Maxie. And uh, of course, Paul George came back. He's producing, but what do you speak to see the 76ers? And in the West, D. Kerms, I mentioned Minnesota, but what about Durant and Houston? You know, what about some of the other teams? You know, the Spurs are right there too, but uh the Lord, Denver, can Jokic from four seed or three seed, can he get enough aid? Can uh Murray stay healthy for that Denver team? So I'm excited, man. Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Okay, perfect. Well, yeah. I'm curious what Denver's what's Denver's mindset now that their head coach just left to coach the Tariels. That's what I'm curious about.

SPEAKER_02 34:49

Well, yeah, he's an ex-head coach. The the other guy took over. He he he last coached two or three years ago with Denver. So the head coach, yeah, yeah, that that that's uh that's not a distraction because the new guy is in there now in his second year. I don't even know his name, but Chad will have more into that. But it shouldn't affect Denver that much because they blew him out of Denver. He was too rough. You know, so the North Carolina, yeah, the North Carolina NIL deals, they'll take care of the new guy down in Chapel Hill. You know, he better not be rough on those recruits, though. He can't coach like he was coaching Denver Nuggets. You know, guys can get away with it, but no. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

Cool. Well that that shows you how behapy I am with the NBA and coaches and stuff like that. So thank you for correcting me, Doc.

Final Thoughts And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 35:34

That's okay. Right on, baby. Well, next time we'll have you back on will be uh after the draft or leading into football season where you know a hundred percent of that. So we will we'll definitely get that planned out. But but that's that's all I got for for everybody, Doc. We'll be back next week or the week after, uh, and of course dive into the draft a little bit more uh and of course do the NBA playoffs preview. We'll get into that as well. Uh Kerms, as always, we appreciate you for joining, man.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

I appreciate you guys having me on again. Until next time. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

All right, sounds good. We'll see you guys next time. Peace. It was fun. Peace.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

Peace.