NEW YORK STATE OF MIND: THE KNICKS ARE CHAMPIONS!

[00:00:00] We always recommend Shopify. It took us from an idea to a real business. We got set up, I think, in less than a day with very little effort. We could just focus on the supply chains and the product development. Shopify gives us the ability to customize without the complexity. We can change something without introducing fragility or having to pay a developer. We're Thirsty Turtle and we leveled up our business with Shopify. Start your free trial at shopify.com.au

[00:00:30] A warning from Jace Medical. Even if the war stops, the real shortages won't. Because of how slow ships move for most of this war, the US was still receiving oil that set sail months ago. But other parts of the world are already feeling it. Asia. Europe. Africa.

[00:00:48] That's why prices are rising now, because demand is increasing as supply tightens. But the US is just beginning to experience the real shortage. And even if things stabilize, the ripple effects will last for much, much longer. Oil doesn't just power your car. It powers the systems that make and deliver your medications. And when supply slows, access becomes less predictable. The difference between panic and peace is preparedness with Jace.

[00:01:17] The Jace case is a doctor-prescribed emergency supply of essential medications and prescription antibiotics delivered right to your door so you're already ready when you need it. Get your Jace case today at Jace.com.

[00:01:35] Sports Reports As Ordered, no gimmicks, no clowns. 2-5, Mr. Loddickle, we run this town. Real talk only. No chasing, no doubt. From the east to the west, it's the order we shout. Mic check, lights, flash, game time, stay ready. Two vets in the zone, keep the pressure real heavy. Big hits, big plays, yeah, we breaking it down. Truth rings in your speakers, every word is the crown. From the north side hustle to that southern flame. Midwest grind, west coast in the game. Sports talk kings, yeah, we wear that crown. Turn it up, let them know, it's about to go down.

[00:02:05] Sports reports, no gimmicks, no clowns. 2-5, Mr. Lodica, we run this town. We'll talk only. No chasing, no doubt. From the east to the west, it's the order we shout. It's about to go down.

[00:02:30] Yes. You are now listening to the sounds of Sports Reports' order. And I just got word, it's not F the Knicks. It's bow down to the Knicks. The Knicks are your world champions, but it still leaves me confused. Like, world champions of what?

[00:02:54] He is the world famous, world renowned, cool, calm, and collected. Mr. Logical. And then down here, in a disappointed, dejected, twas the night before Christmas Alamo. I am 2-5. Like, review, subscribe, share, rate, do all the free things, do all the good things. Liquid Death in hand, got my Scream Soda.

[00:03:20] I don't even like Cream Soda, but I took a chance because last time I got the Pina Colada and I don't like coconut. And I loved it. It was a hit. You know, but also tonight, we got to talk a little bit about the NBA draft. We got that on Tuesday. You know, and then, of course, we're going to talk a little bit about some college football things that we're looking forward to, including the latest on Brendan Soresby.

[00:03:44] But let's get right to it, Mr. Logical. Walk me through Game 5, since I was not able to lay eyes on it. Oh, man. Oh, Game 5, Game 5. Where can I start?

[00:04:08] San Antonio had an advantage over the Knicks that was clear in all five games. Our big guards either shoot well or they drive to the basket. The problem was they were flip-flopping who was doing what.

[00:04:34] And it burned them every single game, every single game in the series, because even Game 3 that they won, stick to what you were doing. De'Aaron Fox shot too many threes, in my opinion. They shot a lot of them with like 12, 11, 12 seconds on the shot clock. I think Champagny just kind of stopped pulling the trigger. Castle was your guy that was coming downhill.

[00:05:03] And it just seemed like they just stopped doing what they were doing well individually. And it was like a mixed bag of who can do what. So everybody was shooting threes or everyone was trying to get to the bucket. You know, it just was like no consistency. Whereas you see the Knicks, Landry Shamit was not driving to the paint into Wembanyama. He just wasn't doing that. What about Rez? Appreciate it, Rez. He just wasn't doing that.

[00:05:30] OG Adenobi wasn't shooting a bunch of threes off the dribble. Just wasn't. He stuck to what he was doing at. Wembanyama's advantage was they set him up in a pick and roll. And I'm going to take this from Perk. Perk was like, yo, he was trying to pick and roll. He kept picking and popping. Like, you need to roll. Roll to the hoop and get some dunks. But he kept popping out for jumpers.

[00:05:59] So I think it just was a mixed bag of people not players that are playing the role that was built for the situation. Versus just playing the way they kind of played all year. What, you know, seemed to be effective. I mean, they made all of it in the NBA finals. But I think in the finals, the lack of a clearly defined role. And like Rez said, there was no get a bucket guy. Wimby's supposed to be a get a bucket guy. But he played just as like discombobulated as the other guys.

[00:06:28] Like, whereas if you talk about game five, it was 94-90. Jalen Brunson had 45 points by himself. Because he just realized like people are off. Mikel Bridges is off. Josh Hart's, you know, like guys aren't scoring. But Wimby is challenging me way too far from the hoop, way too often. And guys were getting easy looks that way. So I think he just understood the moment.

[00:06:55] It was like none of these guys can guard me. Castle can't guard me without following me. So he kind of peeled back. Because we talked about him in games one, two, one and two over the OKC series, the runoff from that. He was going to be aggressive. He was going to follow a lot. He kind of backed off. And then Brunson was just killing him. He was like getting him on his right hip. And would just drive him to the basket left hand. And no special moves. Like, yo, get to the paint. Get to the middie.

[00:07:24] And he was getting whatever he wanted. And any time he tried to take him out. That was, I look at it two ways. You know, I just want to be like, oh, it's a dirty play. Either he looked down to put his foot down. Somewhere where Jalen Brunson could still get his foot to the floor. Or he deliberately put it down so that his foot would be the floor that Jalen Brunson landed on.

[00:07:54] Because either the way he looked, it was like, appreciate it. But the way he looked at the, his foot. I was like, is he doing it on purpose? Or was he actually trying to get his foot down to avoid it? I don't know. It should have been called. He would have been suspended for game six anyway. Because there's no way the NBA could look at that and be like, even me trying to low-key justify it, the NBA looked at it like,

[00:08:24] now you clearly put your size 20 shoe right here and his ankle rolled. That's a flagrant, you're out game six. Yeah, see, the Spurs gotta be sick. You know what I mean? Another game that they should have won, obviously, you know, they had a lead of double digits in every game. You know, they led for a total of 70% of the series. Then you turn around, they lost a game where Kat scored five points.

[00:08:51] They lost a game where Kat scored two points. And then, of course, there was the Wimby pass to Castle that wasn't. The good news for the Spurs is that Michael couldn't beat Detroit. Isaiah couldn't beat Boston. You know, the Celtics took seven years until, you know, they finally got over the hump. You know, the Warriors lost to the Clippers and the Spurs before they got bailed out by Kevin Love and Kyrie's injuries. So, you know, this is what happens.

[00:09:21] This is what happens in the NBA. And as I was looking at this series, that was something that I hadn't thought of, you know, from the standpoint of it's rare that you really see a team just take off and win the championship just like that, even as dominant as OKC was last year. You know, they lost to Dallas that year before, you know, in six games. So it's not a general thing. No, but it wasn't in the finals.

[00:09:48] But also with the Spurs, you know, the other thing is that I was thinking about this because I know people are going to kill me for saying this because this person obviously never won a championship in their career. But I feel like the Spurs were missing Chris Paul in this situation. You know, just that veteran. Chris Paul doesn't participate in a 29-point lead and then lose the game.

[00:10:16] Yeah, and if he does, he's punching somebody. Or like, you know, at the very least. Yeah, he's getting kicked out, you know. Yeah. And they're brawling and half the team goes with him. But like, you have 29. He's not taking any bad shots before six seconds left in the shot clock. He's throwing every lob to win me that he can to get him foul trouble. Yeah. So you know how a few years ago a lot of the talk was Steph Curry ruined basketball

[00:10:42] because of all the three-point shots and, you know, the Warriors, the way that they were playing. Even though they were playing beautiful basketball, people were criticizing everybody for getting caught up in the three-point contest. You know, Steph didn't ruin the game because he was hitting them. Wimby is the byproduct of the ruin because you got a guy that's 7'4", and he wants to hang on the perimeter. And then what's going on in that Spurs locker room?

[00:11:12] Because after game one, you know, we talked about it, how Dylan Harper reposted that meme about De'Aaron Fox being playoff hard. And then after game five, you get eliminated. You're doing your press conference. Devin Vassell talking about, yeah, Dylan Harper been upset about his playing time and his role all year. That's young guys who are not used to having a microphone in their face. You know, but that goes back to show some of the chinks in the armor, if you will,

[00:11:42] of what the Spurs were dealing with because they were focused on everything else but execution. You know, Harper wants to be on the floor. Wimby wants to be a guard. You know, Mitch Johnson just wants to let them – he wants to be Phil Jackson. Just let him play. We don't need a timeout. You know, like I don't know how you lead 70% of a series. You only win – 73%. Yeah, you only win one game. That's even worse. That three makes it worse. And, you know, and there's a case.

[00:12:12] There's a case out there. De'Aaron Fox could have been the finals MVP. You know, because he did all the things to help the Knicks out. You know what I mean? What? Like, no, he did. I thought you was going to give me like a Jason Terry stat that I wasn't paying attention to. Like – No, no. I think the Spurs should have swept the Knicks. Because he was the bet on the team. Yes, they should have. They should have swept them. They should have. They should have. 4-0. Those – That – Double-digit leads in every –

[00:12:42] Every game. Mm-hmm. Every game, double-digit first quarter leads. Not to mention multiple two games with double-digit fourth quarter leads. I saw it on First Things First. I think the number is the double-digit comebacks by the Knicks in the three of the four games that they won.

[00:13:03] It's the sixth, third, and first, like as far as like the largest comeback, the third largest comeback, the sixth largest comeback. That's just nuts. Those were back-to-back-to-back wins.

[00:13:25] So even the game where – game five, after they came back from 29, being down like 14 or 15 in game six was like – we never thought that them coming back from 16 was crazy. I just told them to come back from the fourth quarter in the NBA Finals history because they just come back from 29.

[00:13:50] Like you said, when being shooting threes, it just goes to the breakdown that I had before the series started. Every player on the Knicks knows exactly what their role is in every single game they did just that. I think game three, Mitchell Robinson didn't play much. They were doing the Hacker Robinson. They got the little lead. I think even game four he didn't play much because they had to put Alvarado in.

[00:14:20] So he didn't come in game five and try to do something extra. He just came back in and was like, all right, cool. I got this many minutes in game three. I didn't get a lot in game four. We won. Obviously, they put Alvarado in. They put me back in. And he just did his thing. He got that offensive rebound. Somebody else said something I watched today that pretty much the same thing I was saying about Wimby. Wimby was trying to create.

[00:14:50] I guess they call it aura farming. He was trying to create that moment in the finals. That Amia Headboy, that in his mind, when he said that, he thought that was going to be the clip for his NBA Finals championship highlight run. Because they would have been up. Realistically, they should have tied that series up 2-2. So that moment would have been the turning point.

[00:15:16] Like the moment where he was on the bench game one or game two when he was given the little pep talk. The little pep talk. So it would have been the pep talk. It would have been the Amia Headboy. The jumper. Like all these things. I think he just started saying, you know what? Let me make the best basketball. What up, Mike? Yeah. What's going on, Mike? He was trying to create. What is the most historical moment I can create in this right now?

[00:15:46] Whereas a guy like OG. You see, he was wide open on that Jalen shot. We could probably watch that play 50 different times. Different teams running that same play. And that guy would stand there and watch the ball hit the rim. Maybe it goes in. Maybe it doesn't. As soon as Jalen let the ball go, he didn't say, damn, he didn't pass me the ball. He just crashed the boards. Because he was waiting for the ball.

[00:16:14] And as soon as it went up, gear switched. So like roles and understanding the magnitude of the moment. And Mitch Johnson learned exactly why the Knicks got rid of Tibbs. Because if Tibbs is the head coach, I don't even know if they get here. You know what I mean? Because he would have never put Alvarado in the game at that moment. You know what I mean? And this is where you don't say, yeah, you was on that, Mike.

[00:16:42] You know, I remember them Trey Young arguments. But I think that's what got Mitch Johnson in trouble. Because he was too beholden to his rotations. You know, like he wasn't going to switch it up at all. Like there were times where, you know, and I know like after game three, I think it was. I said, yo, no more Harrison Barnes. You know what I mean? But there might have been a time where you could have put Harrison Barnes in for Champagny.

[00:17:12] And nobody would have known the difference. You know what I mean? But with that being said, Mr. Logical, as the champions, right? You know, you don't normally go into this is what the champions must do. But if the Knicks want to get back here next year, is there a piece they could add? Is there a trade they could make? Or do you think you just run it back as is?

[00:17:40] I sound like coaching to me. Yeah. In theory, I say you run it back. If you could get a four, like a stretch four maybe. Because I think that's what hurts San Antonio not having. Like I said, I'll use an example. Like Mason Plumlee.

[00:18:07] Like 6'10", 6'11", guy that's going to go out there and just bang and rebound. I think you might need somebody that's – like Mitchell Robinson is going to be your big. He's going to be your rebounder. But I think a guy that you can rotate in with Cat. And he might not score the same way Cat does, but he can be like an asset. Like granted, this is not going to happen. Like a guy like Hartenstein. Hartenstein is not going to come out there and give you, you know, 14 and 10 every night.

[00:18:34] But his presence defensively, what he can give you if you get the ball to him within six to eight feet low, that little push shot. Someone who plays that kind of role that you can get, you know, a handful of minutes, 20, 25 minutes, kind of mixed in with Cat. Because I think you can run a guy like that and Mitchell Robinson and your three guards essentially. And you can run them with Cat because Cat can then now play away from the hoop.

[00:19:00] Same kind of three-guard combo that you run. So I think like just the four, just another guy that – so Mikael Bridges doesn't have to defend a big if they have one in there. Just a guy – so Josh Hart does have to just defend a guy like – give me – the guy that was in Portland, Jeremy Grant, something like that. Like a guy like that against New York, yeah, let me go get like a 6'10 big that's just going to defend him

[00:19:26] instead of having my 6'6", 6'7 guards, you know, give up two or three inches in advantage. But someone like that. Just somebody that can kind of just keep them flowing. I don't really think they made wholesale changes. I don't know what the money looks like. We keep talking about Jalen Brunson leaving $113 million on the table. So looks like the right move. The Knicks are a publicly traded commodity, so I don't know if he has stock in the Knicks that's going to make up for the $113 million they didn't get.

[00:19:56] Yeah, I think even if the Knicks grab somebody like, say, Zach Collins from the Bulls, like that could be helpful. I think that if we're going to go the draft route, you know, which we'll get into the draft a little bit later here, but if the Knicks could get their hands on somebody like Marense Johnson out of Michigan, I think that might be a good tough body. Or, hey, go get Zuby, you know, Ojafor out of St. John's, one of those two big bodies that can just push people around the paint

[00:20:25] and not have to have Cat do so much of the dirty work. But conversely, if you're the Spurs, what do you need? You need someone to bite at the Aaron Fox apple a year earlier than you probably expected. Well, according to the reports that came out today, like he's their point guard. Yeah, everyone says that, but when you watch the film, you're going to –

[00:20:51] it's not – I don't want to put the whole thing on him. Like I said, in game four, he had to jump in to put him up five. But I don't mind him going for the layup in game four to try to go up three. It's like this is the moment you had Josh Hart that just blew the layup. This thing bounced right. Literally, you're the only one running down the hill to get to the – Well, I mean, who knows, right? If they call the follow-up OJ, we might not even be having this conversation.

[00:21:22] I saw a couple of replays, and I think it looked like he swiped the ball before he got to the arm. I'm not sure. But, like, I saw it in, like, real time after I read the report. Like, maybe he got to the ball. Like I said, no ref was going to call that foul. But if you slow up a little bit instead of trying to be super fast De'Aaron Fox, if you slow up just a half step, he's running the team. Get somebody into him, yeah. Yeah. Now they got to call it because you're in the row with the photographers if you slow down just a half step.

[00:21:53] I mean, you're laying up with the dude and he's taking your picture like this. And now you're getting free throws or maybe you get an and one. But I just felt like that was – it just was – the whole game had a lot of problems. I wouldn't throw everything at the feet of De'Aaron Fox then. And the issue that De'Aaron Fox is facing is that Dylan Harper would have played better, but he also missed a layup that would have tied the game at 90.

[00:22:22] You know, he came down left-handed, was right at the rim, and blew the layup. No one got a hand. It was a slight contest, but he missed a layup. So we're not going to say, oh, well, because he blew the layup, that he shouldn't get playing time next year. I just think everyone's throwing everything on Fox. And that $200-something million is a lot to move. But if somebody wants to move, if somebody wants to start over in Portland,

[00:22:48] I don't know, Chicago's seem to be in this position where they're trying to turn around. Maybe they say, you know what? Let's get this guy who probably has a chip on his shoulder because I'm pretty sure all he's getting is this bullshit hate mail from people on social media. And probably people in the town of San Antonio. Hey, Mike, maybe them Bulls and new head coach Tiago Splitter, you know what I'm saying, makes a call about De'Aaron Fox.

[00:23:14] But that's $200 million left on the contract. Yeah, he gets 60 next year. Yeah, so that's going to be a problem. Well, you know, I think that, I think that, to Reza's point, what he was talking about, I think the Spurs have to treat Wimby like he's Cat. You know what I mean? Cat, you know, he was the big man. And then they went and got Gobert. They had their twins and all that kind of stuff.

[00:23:43] Like, I think that they might need somebody to allow Wimby to play that four. Because you were talking about it the other day. Like, why is Wimby out here guarding Alvarado? You know, at times he's guarding Josh Hart. You know, because they want to do this freelance thing. Because Wimby is not a great on-ball defender. You know, he just has great recovery speed. He's 7'4", and athletic. So he's always a threat to block his shot. You know what I mean? So that's the thing.

[00:24:12] And then on top of that, you know, Harrison Barnes got to go. Probably time to move on from Shab Penny if you can. I feel like Cornette. I know they just got Cornette this year. And I don't want to bang on them. But, you know, at the same time, you saw it in the OKC series. You saw it in this series. Whenever Wimby went out the game, it was open season down there. And, of course, right, that could just be the difference of.

[00:24:41] Just like that. Five minutes into the game, Messi scores on Algeria. You just had to shoot him. Oh, no, they waved it off. Yeah. I think they waved it off. They got him off. Oh, no. That's on. He's on. They're going to do a review. That's good. He's onside.

[00:24:59] But, you know, but they, but they, but Cornette, that could just be the difference between how great Wimby is versus how regular Cornette is. You know, maybe that's another year of him being in their system and figuring that out. But I think they need another big body. You know, those two names that I mentioned for the Knicks in the draft, I think the Spurs could look there as well.

[00:25:26] You know, if I'm the Spurs, Wimby, Castle, and Harper are my untouchables. Everybody else, I'm listening at the very least. I might not trade you, but I'll take a phone call. Like, that includes you, Vassell. And I like Vassell. I don't think they have to do that much. I mean. No, I don't think they do either, but I'm just saying. You were up double digits in every single game in the NBA Finals.

[00:25:55] Yes, it did not end well. But I don't think you throw the baby out with the bathwater just because of that. Oh, yeah. Throw that baby out. Now, listen. I clearly identified what their weakness was going to be. After the NBA Finals. So, it's like, just sure up that part. Those, and that's the beauty part about having a needing of four. They come in such a variety.

[00:26:21] As long as they're 6'9 and 6'10, which is so many guys like that in the NBA that don't get any run. It's probably guys who sit behind Jokic that don't get on the court. It's probably guys that sit behind undersized guys like Aaron Gordon who can play the four. It's a lot of players like that in the league. A guy like Luke Garza for, I think he might still be in Boston. I'm not saying like he's it, but it's like a guy, like just a guy like he barely, like he's been in the league for a while. I know.

[00:26:50] And he barely was getting any runs. I'm talking about a guy like that. Like a guy who's just a more, I don't want to say more gifted Cornette, but like somebody else that can be in. Because I said when they were taking Wimby out, it's like if you take Wimby's two defenders, he's he's defending his guy and he's always defending the rim. So when you take Wimby out now, it's just whoever's guarding the ball and then hopefully someone can rotate to the rim.

[00:27:19] Put another guy in there that's now going to defend the rim and the other guy's going to defend the on-ball guy. That's the only thing. You just need to get somebody else in there that can be the defensive presence that Wimby is, as well as another guy who might be able to get you, you know, eight to nine points, six to seven rebounds in mop-up duty. So Wimby can get down to 30. What was Giannis when they won the championship?

[00:27:47] He was like 37, 36, 37 minutes a game. Yeah, something like that. It was like somewhere in that lower. But yeah, I think it was like 30 games by double digits. Yeah. Yeah. So I think they try to get him to like 34 minutes, like a guy like not saying he's available, but like a guy like Bobby Portis. I think Bobby Portis coming in with Cornette, Jalen Bruns is still not getting to the paint without getting some getting touched up. That's all they need.

[00:28:11] I would keep the guys I need to get rid of like give me a like like champagne if you think he needs to go. Like if guys are do like big money, then I will I'll consider it. But if guys aren't do big money, I will run it right back. All right. So here we go. I told you that I had questions. So let's so let's get started. Eight straight years. New champions. You like the parody or do you miss dynasties?

[00:28:41] I love the parody. One more. I love it. I love it because we didn't like the four. The eight straight years LeBron went to the finals. The basketball fans. The conversation surrounding him as a player. People didn't like it. And they started saying stuff like, no, I know people didn't like it because they started saying stuff that wasn't true. This is weak. It was NBA.

[00:29:11] It can't be weak for eight straight years. Yes, it can. One year he traded half his team. What was that? OK, here's a different question. Here's a different question. When was the last time? No, no. I know. I know. But when was the last time in your heart of hearts? You think that the East was better than the West? I don't think it's been forever. Exactly. But I don't think the worst. This is how I felt and I've had this argument before. I think the Western Conference has just as many mediocre teams.

[00:29:42] Maybe the East has more. But we see the Eastern team more. We see Charlotte, Washington, and Orlando kind of sucking more because they're on TV playing East Coast timeline. Because you won't move back to Utah. Oh, listen. That's. I would if I could. But I'm not. Jersey for life. No. So what I mean by that is that the bronze teams weren't going 62 and 20 every year in the East.

[00:30:10] A lot of those years, they were second seed, third seed. It's just that in the playoffs, he just was better than everyone else. But no one liked that. You know, Utah's dope. Don't sleep on it. Check. But that's what. But that's what. I bet you won't move. But that's what made it so weak, though. But that was. I don't think. That's what made it weak. Is that LeBron legit. It's not. No, no. LeBron would legit. Like, okay. Okay. So back when he joined Miami, right? The Heedles, right?

[00:30:37] So when was the NBA week when Jordan had two three-peats and the narrative is like, if he didn't go play baseball for two years, they would have won eight straight times? No. You know how. Yes, it was. You know how I feel about the competition at his position that Jordan had to go against. But that's not the conversation. You know what I'm saying? But the thing with LeBron. Because you're 2-5 is that conversation. No, but people didn't. I don't think people hate it. Or we don't look at the East that way all the time just because it's LeBron or just because it's the East.

[00:31:05] What was happening was LeBron's teams were legit taking weeks off at a time, giving up home court advantage just because they could. You remember when they played the Indiana Pacers, Paul George and them was on their heels. And they said, you know what? We're just going to sit out these last two or three games. We don't even need home court. You know what I mean? Then the Raptors, he was going up against DeMar DeRozan because why do we think he would bring us the trophy? And then you had, shout out to Drake.

[00:31:35] But then you also had the year that he went to Cleveland. Or I'm sorry, 2018 in Cleveland. They traded half their team at the trade deadline and still made the final. Yeah, but that goes to two points. I think he was, I think he is that great and he elevated every team around him.

[00:31:58] But I think subsequently the parity has a better conversation because a guy going to eight straight finals is a big deal. A team and Golden State going to four or five out of, what was it? Five out of six. It was like five out of seven or something like that. Honestly, it was five out of seven. Yeah, I think it was five out of seven. Yeah, but four straight playing against Cleveland. That's the big deal. It wasn't like, oh, wow. I can't wait for this Cavs-Warriors finals.

[00:32:27] It was like, oh, the Warriors went out and got Kevin Durant. But also, I think the other part of that. But I think the other part of that, though, the reason that people hated it was because, and this is not my opinion. I'm just saying what people were saying. Is that LeBron was jumping from team to team. You know what I mean? And that's what they hated about it. Because it was like, just stay in that one place. He went to two teams. I know. That's why I said it's not my opinion. He played out his contract. Went to Miami.

[00:32:58] Played out his contract. Went back to Cleveland. He didn't demand a trade like James Harden. I've seen people say. And then what he did after that? He left again. I think that was another thing. Yeah. Played out his contract and left again. Never demanded a trade. But I think that's what people hated. I think that's what people hated. I think people hated the fact that it wasn't the big cities.

[00:33:19] The Phoenix-Milwaukee series had me thinking when the Knicks were up 2-0, that could happen again. Hey. Because San Antonio has a guy that could. We saw when he went for 44. 44-21 against OKC. They have a guy that was physically capable of doing that. But that reminded me of the Milwaukee-Phoenix series. Where people, we would talk.

[00:33:48] That's where we were really heavy in the sports group. People were like, no one wants to see that. Dog, it's a tournament. It doesn't matter what you want to see. This is the outcome. So, Giannis scored 56 points in that closing game of that series, right? Is that the quietest 56-point game ever? Because nobody ever talks about that. Especially considering that it was the finals in the closeout game. That was 2021, correct? Yes.

[00:34:17] That was, yeah, 2021. So, that was the year after Lakers won it in the bubble. And I believe people like the dynasty. And then when L.A. didn't make it in 2021, I was like, I don't want to see this. And then when another team won in 2022, and it was like, ah, here we go. And it's like, instead of just kind of relishing, like, yo, the league you like to watch is a good league. Because you have new teams.

[00:34:46] You have young teams emerging. You have OKC the last few years on their rise. Wins the chip last year. Go to the game seven at home, West Carolina final this year. Lose to the new up-and-coming team on the block. So, now you just have, I think, parity makes every week interesting. Instead of us simply just trying to watch KD versus the other aging superstar on a Tuesday night. I can't lie. I do feel cheated. Spurs-Knicks game next year.

[00:35:15] The Spurs-Knicks game next year. It's going to be crazy. I can't lie. I do feel cheated that we didn't get Boston and the Knicks in the playoffs this year. And you know what I mean? But the Knicks, shout out to them because they're the first team to win the Cup and the championship. But, Mike, LeBron had Channing Frye legit. He made me care about Iman Shumpert, man. But, all right, next question. Are we really seeing Giannis for Jalen Brown?

[00:35:47] I think it might be realistic because Jalen is basically signaling what the world's biggest bat signal. I want to be the man on these streets. I don't want to share the spotlight. So, I think that kind of lessens the demand. And I think you're going to get one of these deals where it's like Giannis superstar, Jalen Brown superstar. Let's make the picks. And the money.

[00:36:16] Yeah, it looks like the Clippers and the Hawks are the two teams that are being talked about as being the third team to facilitate that trade if it happens. So, you know, but Giannis allegedly is still asking for Miami. You know what I mean? So, I saw some frameworks. You know, Tyler Hero, Kalel Ware, because we know him and Spolstra don't even get along. And some picks. And Milwaukee is kind of like, ah, that ain't going to get it done.

[00:36:45] So, that's where we need that third team potentially. Here's a question. I'm not trying to trigger you or anything, but I was just thinking about this. I was just thinking about this this morning. Should the Nets move? Back to Jersey? Something. Nah. Nah. Something. All right. World Cup update real quick.

[00:37:13] Messi has an actual goal that counted this time. Nah, they shouldn't move. And it wouldn't be a good financial move for them to move. Just the evaluation of the team, because it's in Brooklyn, is going to be probably at half a billion dollars. The team could be, you could sell it for $4.4 billion in Jersey or in Connecticut. Or you could probably sell it for $5 billion. Should they change their name to New York?

[00:37:44] We had this conversation before. No. Okay. Well, because I've only seen it happen. We've seen it happen recently with the Angels. It didn't change their fortunes. They ended up having Shohei Otani, and he went to the real L.A. team anyway. So, the New York Nets would end up getting a guy in this draft. One of their guys would pan out well.

[00:38:10] And then when they got to move off somebody in New York, that dude would just go from Brooklyn to Manhattan. And then that's when he'd be good. Listen, I am not a Knicks fan. I clearly identify. I jumped on the Knicks fan. I'm not going to be a hypocrite about it. All right. I didn't switch. I just said, look, listen. I was like, you know what? This is an improbable run. I want to be with it.

[00:38:40] All right. So, last one before we get in. They should move. But, yeah. Last one before we get to the draft. And this is still draft. Both my squads. Both my dudes. I don't know if people say, I got four dudes. What? Get out of here. We're about to talk about the draft, but this is a semi-draft question. And Rez kind of spoiled it a little bit. So, here we are, Mr. Logical. Another year. Another draft. Another dude don't want to go to Utah. You know what I'm saying?

[00:39:10] So, apparently, you know, all the reports are Darren Peterson, you know, doesn't want to go to Utah. What's wrong with him, Mr. Logical? They're thinking about marketing. They're thinking about the brand. They're thinking about the big lights. It's not. It's laid out clearly for Utah to get A.J. DeBonza. I think we've lived there.

[00:39:39] And it depends on how you're employed in Utah. It's how you're going to love it. So, if you like outdoors, camping, you like a quiet life, simple, you just want to work, Utah is a perfect spot for you.

[00:39:56] But if you want commercials, you want the limelight, you want the nightlife, unless you're willing to take that 45-minute PJ down in Vegas or even a 45-minute Delta flight down in Vegas, more than likely you're not going to get the same level of entertainment. You're not going to get the same marketing and financial opportunities off the court either.

[00:40:25] Yeah, you might be like there's some major corporations in Utah, but the biggest one is the Mormon Church. More likely, they're not going to use you to advertise the Mormon Church. So, that big pot of money is not available to you. Whereas, you go somewhere like D.C., you go somewhere like New York, you go somewhere like Boston, the biggest corporations in those cities would employ your services as an NBA player in some kind of promotion.

[00:40:48] I think the best you're probably going to get from a billion-dollar industry in Utah is one of the car dealerships, Stockton & Malone, Larry H. Miller, something like that. You're not going to really get your – if your face goes on the billboard, it's going to be for one of those kind of corporations. Unless you're an outstanding player, like I don't know if AJ signed a deal with like Nike, Puma, whomever, but if it's not with Nike and it's Puma, Puma doesn't really move the needle just yet. So, being in Utah probably won't help.

[00:41:18] Whereas, if you are a Knicks player, if you're Clippers, Phoenix, one of these other places where like the billboard really is geared towards highlighting the player, then yeah, that's why I can understand why you wouldn't want to go to Utah. And I get it, right? Like there's a certain disconnect, you know, depending on how you grew up, where you grew up. Utah just sounds like the wilderness to you.

[00:41:44] But with that being said, I guess I'm just old school in that way. And obviously, I went to Utah. I didn't have a choice because I was in the military. But, you know, but when I look at it, I'm like – I think that if I was an NBA player on my way to making millions, I'll go play basketball in Siberia. You know what I'm saying? Like so I just don't look at it that way from a sports standpoint. Like – and I feel like you can get – I mean, everything's remote and virtual nowadays.

[00:42:14] Like you can still, in my opinion, get certain sponsorships and do certain things. But anyway, so – But I think if you were in Sanford – if you were – like if you got drafted by the Golden State Warriors or if you got drafted, you know, any sport around Silicon Valley, you're walking into these meetings. It's very similar to why, you know, LeBron went to L.A. and why KD went to Golden State and then went to New York. I think Justin Tuck said the same thing. That ain't why KD went to Golden State.

[00:42:44] Well, you can – well, I mean, they begged him on the Hamptons. But Justin Tuck said the same thing when he picked the Raiders. He was like, well, I don't – he's like, I have relationships in New York. I don't have many relationships in Silicon Valley. So I'm going to go to Oakland. So Utah, you're not walking into that organically, whereas any of the other major cities you are.

[00:43:06] Like I said, unless you can think of a different place, I got Stockton Malone dealerships, Larry H. Miller dealerships, and maybe the developers who are building all these houses and everything else. But it's like I don't see anything major as far as like a multibillion-dollar industry that's going to give you like that at-home, local celebrity access that Darren Peterson and other young guys probably want. To include all of his because like, you know, Darren Fox didn't sign a $200 million deal to go play in Utah either.

[00:43:35] So it was like it's not a spot for NBA stars. But for a young guy, it's a perfect spot for you to work on your game, minimal distractions. Yeah, they said that by the end of last season, Ace Bailey, you know, really settled in and, you know, I guess, you know, embraced it. But with that being said, you know, saying next Tuesday and Wednesday night we got the NBA draft.

[00:44:04] Wizards with the number one pick. So what's the word, Mr. Logical? If you're the Wizards, who are you taking number one? If AJ hasn't said, hey, man, I want to go to UT, and if it doesn't work, no one's going to look like, eh, I would have taken the other guy.

[00:44:33] Because he's like a 6'9", versatile wing. I think he led the nation scoring. He did. I've watched some of the clips from his interviews. And the way he talks in his interviews sounds like a person that's like a basketball sponge. They ask him, like, you know, who do you want to guard? Who do you want to play? And he was like, I want to know how Luka, SGA, and all these guys get that shot off. How they get space every single time.

[00:45:02] And maybe you can think, like, oh, he wants to score all the time. But I think it's like, I want to learn from these guys who've been doing it for the last five or six years. Like, how were you able to do this? Because he's thinking to himself, I play basketball. How are you creating this much space in one dribble? Like, how are you getting a clean shot off this quickly? So I think his mindset going into wherever he's going is good. And I think Washington needs it.

[00:45:31] And having Trae Young, if you go move AD, just try to get some real role players that are going to help. But I think Trae Young having the ball, that's going to limit how many times AJ turns the ball over, which will keep his confidence up. But yeah, I think you go AJ. If I'm the Jazz, I go Boozer.

[00:46:03] Just because, like you said, me and you like Utah. I'm pretty sure his father liked it. And then he kind of fits more into what the way they play in Utah. It's not a flash. It's very fundamental. Get up and down the floor. Defend. Score inside. Shoot the rock. So I like that for them. And the Grizzlies, I imagine AJ Peterson probably told them no. Or Darren Peterson probably is like, nah.

[00:46:34] So maybe the Bulls. Well, apparently Washington is the only team that he's working out with. Maybe that's just because he just wants to be the number one overall pick. But with him and Trae Young, I don't know how that works. I don't know how – I don't know if he played off the ball in Kansas. Did he play with a true point guard? Is he going to be able to not beat – is he going to be able to adapt to being the rookie? Well, I'm not sure that Trae Young's not on the table.

[00:47:05] Then I'm not sure what Washington's doing at all. And I think they're going to make the bad decision at number one. And they're going to make the bad decision overall. Because it's like, you made all these trades. For what? So as I was looking at this, I was thinking about this, you know, as a Wizard fan. A couple of thoughts came to mind. I know. A couple of thoughts came to mind. At least you're consistent. I like me. Darren Peterson is a perfect fit for Utah. You know, they just went and got Jaron Jackson Jr. at the trade deadline.

[00:47:35] They still have Laurie marketing. And then, obviously, they can move one of those – you know. They got Ace Bailey. They have Keontae George running the point. So – and Walker Kessler's coming back from injury, even though he's got beef with them right now about his contract extension. So I feel like you could slot Darren Peterson right into that two-guard slot and just say, let's go make the playoffs. You know, so that's what I think about that. When I look at Caleb Wilson, you know,

[00:48:03] I hear a lot of people comparing him to KG. That'd be Kevin Garnett. But when I watch Caleb Wilson play, I see Darius Acuff's defense, but you're like 6'10 or so. You know what I mean? Which is kind of not a good combination, even though theoretically the potential is there. So I like Memphis for him because you put him next to Zach Eady. And if you can develop that defense, I think you might have something there.

[00:48:33] You know, the Bulls are kind of a wild card because they need a little bit of everything. You know, they got Josh Giddey. You know, Simons is a free agent. So they lost Kobe White or they traded Kobe White, you know, to the Hornets. So there's a lot going on in Chicago. So when I look at the Wizards as a fan, if you're going to move AD, I feel like Boozer is probably the right answer.

[00:48:59] You know, put him next to Alex Sarr, who just fractured his foot, by the way. But put those two next to each other. And you have your contrast at your big man position, your guy that can dribble, still set up the offense, do a little Jokic things from the post. Where could you get Boozer if you traded down? I don't think that Boozer... I don't know if I go Boozer. I don't know if I go... No, no, no. The correct answer is DeBancho. The correct answer is DeBancho.

[00:49:28] I'm just saying that, like for me, just looking at the fits and how they... If you think they want Boozer, if you think that's the, like the, an A-tier level fit, I imagine you could probably move down. So who would you... I know them kind of put you on the spot and kind of messed up your list. No, no, no, no. I don't think there's a move to make because I think that... Either you'd have to do it if you want him, if you want Boozer... Yeah, if you want him, you just have to get him because... You got to take him at one.

[00:49:55] Yeah, because if I'm somebody like say, if I'm the Grizzlies, right? I'm happy with either Peterson or DeBancho. You know, I'm happy with either one. So I don't necessarily... You're sitting in the proverbial catbird seat. Right. Now the Jazz is where it gets... But you're probably not going to get... You shouldn't... In theory, you shouldn't get either one of them. You shouldn't get either one of them sitting at three unless the Jazz... Because I thought that was a conversation last year with Ace Bailey.

[00:50:23] Pre-draft, he didn't want to go to Utah either. Right. He didn't want to go to Utah. He wanted to go to Washington or Brooklyn. Those were the two that came up because I think he was looking for what you were talking about, that big city. I think these guys are too focused on a thing that's going to happen organically as long as... If you stay healthy and you play better than Scoot Henderson and Alex R and Richa Shea,

[00:50:52] if you play better than those guys, if you play as good as Dylan Harper plays this past season, you're going to get your face out there because the older guys are fading. Like they're just... It's just... James Harden is... Their time is coming up. KD, Steph, LeBron. All these guys are fading. So you can just line up, get behind Dylan Harper's probably like the rookie to watch right now.

[00:51:21] Obviously, Wimby's already kind of superstar mode, international mode. But guys like Dylan Harper are coming up. Castle, a lot of the past few rookie of the years. You don't have to come out here thinking like, now I got to be this ultra media... What is that influence? Like, yo, you're an NBA player. You're going to get so many opportunities to be the face of some corporation. Even if it's fucking Snickers. You're going to get that opportunity. Just eat the Snickers and shoot the jump shot.

[00:51:50] Like, I mean, like, let's keep it real. Like, these guys are trying to cultivate this 10-year plan two weeks before the draft starts. It just doesn't make any sense to me. See, I think the draft starts with the Kings. Because what are the Kings going to do? Because I think those first four are going to be those first four. In whatever order. You know, the Clippers at five. You know, maybe they like Keaton Wagler. You know, maybe they go somewhere else with it. Because they don't need A-cuff.

[00:52:19] They just got Darius Garland. You know, they don't need Kingston Flemings for the same reason. So I think A-cuff to the Nets could be a thing. But if you're Sacramento, I think you need to get your hands on A-cuff. So if I'm the Kings, I might call the Clippers and see what would it take for me to get to five. And get A-cuff. And get A-cuff.

[00:52:44] Yeah, because I think that the Clippers can either go with Wagler or Mikel Brown and feel okay. You know, but the Nets are kind of just in that position where they need a little bit of everything. So the Nets could take anybody for all we know. But after the Kings, you know, then you get the Hawks, right? What was the Hawks missing this year? They went up against the Knicks. They had all the wing players to cause the chaos on defense.

[00:53:14] But they were too small in the front court. So now if you're the Hawks, do you try to get a Di Mara right there? They got a Michigan? Michigan, yeah. Or you think that's too high? Yeah, it's too high. Like, we've seen that experiment with Zach Eadie.

[00:53:37] I'm not – if I'm not getting – if I'm the NBA, because we talk about the NIL and the almost seemingly unlimited transfer port opportunities. After about seven or eight, man, like you're just grasping at straws at that point. Like whatever guy you get is the guy you get.

[00:54:03] Like there's not ten – there's not ten guys in this draft where people believe three through ten are interchangeable. Right. Like, oh, he could go here. Like, you know, it's like one, two, three, four, and five are pretty much locked in. And, yeah, six through 12 is probably a mixed bag. Like, but are you going to go – are you going to say, you know what? Jalen Brunson just took a team in the NBA championship.

[00:54:33] Do we take a chance on a small guard? Do we run two small guards? Do we go back to the mid-range game? Do we listen to the analytics guys that graduated from MIT and not work in our front office? Like, what do you do? And I just feel like so many teams are just in this purgatory of we don't know what works best. And it's like I don't know if we have the coach that's going to make it happen. I think they're all going to make bad picks. But if you're the Hawks, get a big or get on the phone with Washington and see what they want for AD.

[00:55:03] I'm not a big fan of AD moving around because he's getting older and he kind of – he seems to be injured. Well, I know that was a thing. They were one of the teams trying to get him at the trade deadline. So, maybe you do that and it's like, you know what? I'm getting a known commodity. I understand the pros and cons of this commodity. But I'm not – I'm not taking a draft pick again and not working out after I made all his other trades.

[00:55:31] So, I just – I think that's probably more likely. The Mavericks that's been talking about – It sounds like the Mavericks – Yeah, it sounds like the Mavericks – Like the experts are penciling in Braden Berry's with the Mavericks. Which leads me to the Warriors and the Bucs Warriors Thunder. That threesome, if you will. You know, the triplets. I don't know. I didn't really want to say threesome. But, you know, whatever.

[00:55:59] But, you know, but that's where you get into your – Because I've been heavy on native men to the Bucs. But then I wonder if one of those three teams, all of those three teams, are looking at Dominican LeBron. You know what I mean? Are they looking at Steinbach, you know, out of Washington? You know, there's a couple of players that I think fit in that 10, 11, 12 range. And – but OKC also has number 17.

[00:56:27] So, there's word on the street that they may try to move up. Even though I don't know what they would necessarily try to get if they were to move up. I think OKC just – I think they could call Brooklyn and be like, yo, we'll give you 12, 17, and one of the Williams. One of the J-Wills. And they'd be like, yeah, we'll take that. And let's –

[00:56:56] Maybe, like, if they get Austin Reeves, I can see them trying to make a rebuild move. I just feel like from about 9 through – 9 through 14, like your original lottery. I just – because of all the trades that happened in that block of time in the NBA when it was like when – now F them picks.

[00:57:24] When LeBron left for Cleveland and the Warriors started to have their decline, I think a lot of teams started going all in, making these moves. No one was thinking about 2026. You made a deal in 2021. You weren't thinking about what your traffic was going to be in 2026. You had no idea what was going to happen. So, now I think a lot of those – a lot of those teams, like OKC, made those deals. Now they have all these picks. And it's like, we don't need all this stuff.

[00:57:52] So, now I think they're going to be able to put that back, reinvest those picks back into the trade market and take another team's valuable piece, give them two draft picks of a guy who came out because all these other guys went back to school for NIL money. So, it's like, I'm not even sure you're getting the most developed players or you're getting the most impact players. If you're not getting the guy in the top five, if you can go, like, pull up the last couple of drafts.

[00:58:21] There you go, Rez. Mm-hmm. So, if you pull up the last couple of drafts and we think about, all right, who's been really impactful? Go back, like, Wimby was like, Wimby's in his fourth year or third year? Third, I want to say. So, from that draft and the last, you know, the last three drafts,

[00:58:43] like, how many guys outside of six really got to a team and, you know, really changed the fortunes of that team? It's very limited. Yeah. So, if I'm going to say that's good. There's not very much. Because, I mean, even in his own draft, like, you would have to reach to maybe say, I'm in Thompson. And they still had to go to Kevin Durant. Yeah. He was going to be a good player.

[00:59:11] And defensively, like, he, you know, between him and his brother, they are really good defensively. But they aren't the reasons that the fortunes of the organization. Yeah. Like, I mean, Thompson is one of those guys that if he was 6'11 instead of 6'6", he'd be Giannis. You know what I mean? But at 6'6", you got to fix that jumper. Like, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. 6'6", you got to be Kawhi. Yeah.

[00:59:39] Like, at 6'6", you got to be able to be strong and work the midi. Hopefully, this kind of ends the analytics thing. And because we just watch a 5'11 guy, 6' tall guy. Well, I don't know if one year is going to end that, though. I mean, Shea did it all last year. Shea's a midi king. Like, because Carmelo talks about this a lot on his podcast, 7 a.m. in Brooklyn.

[01:00:07] He was like, my game was getting to my spots, picking my spots, taking the shots. He's like, I got to Houston. Like, yo, we just need to stand over here and shoot threes. And he said, I was having meetings. I think Jeff T said the same thing on his podcast. It's like, they call you up. Like, listen, man, you're not supposed to be shooting these shots. We don't shoot these shots. He's like, what do you mean? It's a good look. Like, the tip-in or the jumper that sealed game one was a midi.

[01:00:36] It wasn't a 24'3". So, until teams kind of adopt the real philosophy of winning basketball versus winning the – because how many coaches in these press conferences mentioned how they won the game analytically? Because Cleveland did it. Yeah, he said they were up 3-1 or something like that. Yeah, analytically, yeah. It's like, nah, literally you get your ass kicked. Yeah.

[01:01:04] So, you know, also Cameron Carr, you know, he seems to be the big riser from the combine. You know, he came out from Baylor. You know, he had 30 points, six three-pointers in his scrimmage, 42-1⁄2-inch vertical, 6-1⁄2 wingspan. So, he seems to be the high winner coming out of the combine.

[01:01:28] But real quick, I'm going to go down my list of steals, you know, saying you stop me if anything stands out or, you know, you want to argue or something. So, my first one, not because he went to Kentucky, even though he finished at UVA. He finished at UVA. So, you got to owe you in so. You know what I mean? He's one of those centers, you know, 6'11", second in the nation in blocks. He can guard on the perimeter.

[01:01:56] He had nine blocks against Duke in the ACC title game. You know, 21 total in their three ACC tournament games. So, he's one of my locks. Malik Thomas out of Arkansas. Obviously, Acuff gets all the press, and he should. But Malik Thomas stepped in at times, you know, when Acuff was on the bench or wasn't there. And, you know, he's a great shooter.

[01:02:25] I think he caused a lot of problems. Chris Sanak, and this is a reach on my part, I admit. But, you know, 6'11", 7-1⁄2 wingspan, 42-inch vertical. You at least got to give him a shot. Christian Anderson. He might be the best shooter in the draft out of Texas Tech. He's 6'3", 40-1⁄2 inch vertical. Jaden Bradley. Now, this is where we get into the, I think he's a steal.

[01:02:52] But he's going to be one of those Alvarados or somebody like that, that type of contributor. So, steal from the standpoint of where you get him, he's going to help your team. But not going to be a star down the road. He was the Big 12 player of the year. He was the Big 12 tournament MVP. He's got that Jalen Brunson clutchness. They say he's 6'3". I don't believe it. You know, Emmanuel Sharp, you know, out of Houston.

[01:03:22] I think he's a bigger, bigger bodied Landry Schammett. So, you know, a guy like him, you know, and with the defense that you played down at Houston. Ibuko Corey out of Stanford. I think that this guy is Tyrese Maxey and you don't have to deal with injured Embiid. So, you know, so he's a great, he's a great scorer. You know, he averaged 23 points per game this year. People have been questioning his playmaking.

[01:03:50] I saw him make a lot of good passes that his teammates didn't finish. And, you know, that's how I feel about that. If they finally, another one of those big guys, you know, 6'11-ish, you know, maybe more so on the defensive side. Baba Miller out of Cincinnati, formerly of Florida State. You can be 6'11 and you don't have to be Dirk Nowitzki. You know what I mean? You don't have to be Cat. You can contribute in other ways.

[01:04:16] Yeah, and that's the piece that the NBA, I remember we had this conversation talking about like guys like, the way Peyton Manning can control an offense, you can't go get a quarterback and say, hey, man, I want you to do what he does. Like, nah, that's an exceptional way he does that. Oh, I got a guy that's undersized. He has a strong arm like Drew Brees. Yeah, but Drew Brees has an accuracy that, you know, this guy doesn't have.

[01:04:41] Like, there's a thing that certain people have when they don't fit the proverbial mold of a player. So, I think the NBA, what we're going to end up seeing, honestly, man, like, okay, we're going to look at the first round. We're going to have all these freshmen that have come out and with NCAA and their lack of rules, I imagine a lot of guys that don't get drafted try to go back to school because I don't know if the agent rule is in place

[01:05:10] because it was guys who got drafted, went to practice squads, went to many camps and still went back to college. So, I don't know if they've shared that up yet. But it's going to be a lot of foreign names that we hear. It's going to be a lot of guys from Greek basketball leagues, Italian basketball leagues, European basketball leagues that are going to go between 11 and 29. I think somebody lost their picture, so like maybe 1130 if that's the case.

[01:05:36] There's going to be a lot of names that Adam Silver is already practicing. Guys from like Lithuania and stuff like that because. Yeah, well, I know Kareem Lopez is a threat to go top 10 out of Mexico. Okay. So, yeah, it's just it's tough if you're not a top tier blue chip. And that's the part of the conversation that I'm curious about with these guys who are going to be top five picks.

[01:06:05] It's like, yo, dog, you are the only names that people know in this draft. So, you're getting whatever shoe deals available. You're getting whatever national campaigns available. Some of these guys like the Boozer twins already had like I think they had like a T-Mobile deal or AT&T deal or something already out of college. So, I think these guys just extending the NIL deals. It's like get to the league and just get the work. You're playing the game.

[01:06:33] You're playing a kid's game for a king's ransom. Just get in here and play because it's very short. You got two to three years, maybe four. It depends on how you draft it. And another six foot seven, six foot eight guy that can jump 42 inches is going to be in your spot. Speaking of which, you know, let's let's get to the quick list of the people I'm not feeling. You know what I'm saying? Koa Pete. Oh, man, I knew. I knew you were going to say that. I had it already listed. He was one of them.

[01:07:02] I like that guy. I like him. I like him if I needed like fourth and one. Yeah, his brother plays football too. You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, I like that. You know what I'm saying? But you know what he is to me? A great tight end that plays basketball. Koa Pete to me is a slightly smaller version because I think he's an inch shorter and a couple of pounds lighter. But he's a slightly smaller version of what Cam Boozer's critics say about Cam Boozer.

[01:07:33] You know what I mean? You're saying that he is the bad version of Cam Boozer that they're trying to sell. Right. The lesser version. Yeah. If he can't barrel you, he can't score because, you know, Rich Paul and them had him out there shooting. They were bragging about how he was going to come to the combine. And his shooting looked even worse at the combine. He doesn't provide that Draymond Green type defense.

[01:08:00] He doesn't provide that Draymond Green type, hey, let me initiate the offense. So he's just a big dude that just happens to be 6'7 or so. So there is a place in the league for him. But if you're thinking of it as, yo, this is a future all-star or he's going to be a steal. This is 30 minutes a game or 12 minutes a game. Yeah. He's closer to what, 12? I think he's closer to that 12 to 15.

[01:08:27] And I think that he will get it because, like you said, he comes from an athletically gifted family. You know, it just runs in their DNA. So I don't think he's going to be a bum. But I think he should have went back to school. He needs to be on a team that plays physical. He should, like, yeah. Like if he went to the Spurs, you're in there. Yeah, he goes to Minnesota, you're in there. Spurs, Minnesota, Philly. Philly is kind of marred as like a finesse team.

[01:08:53] But I think outside of it, I think that's a physical. I know the team doesn't take on the personality of the city, but I think a guy, a tough guy in a city like Philly, I think they'd appreciate. Like, you know, a guy, like literally his pops was a pro bowl tackle. I mean, best case scenario, maybe he could be like a, and I'm going like into the vault, but like maybe he could be a Larry Johnson type dude. You know what I'm saying?

[01:09:23] If it all works out. You know what I mean? Like he has that potential. I think that's the thing. You, you, the New York Knicks this year, I don't want to be hyperbolic, but I think they are like the blueprint. One of like, say there's like three blueprints in the league that you could like, you could follow like definitive. Like, you know what? This is how you can build your team. The Knicks did it with, you know what?

[01:09:52] Let's try this idea of getting guys who've known each other since college. Let's see if that works. Cause we talked about the Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase. Should they take Panay Sewell or Jamar Chase? They say, well, this, these guys have a relationship since college. Let's just take Chase. And it's worked out. You can get a tackle anywhere else. So let's try that out. Let's get rid of these picks.

[01:10:16] These picks from three, four, five years from now and get a guy that we know who fits a role in the NBA and Mikel Bridges. Like, you know what? This guy's a three and D guy. Defend. Let's go get him. Let's get, I don't know how they ended up with Kat. I don't know how they got Kat for Julius Randall. Like I said, I was a big proponent of like that deal. Drugs. So you, you, you, you build your team with a guys that not necessarily role players, but guys that really want to play their role.

[01:10:46] And I think some of these younger guys are going to try to force, yeah, force their, their, their position into stardom. Where it's like, yo, just come in and play ball. You'll be fine. Like you're one of the best people in the world at what you do already. The fact that you're going to get drafted in the league. That's only had 5,000 people ever playing it. You're already one of the elite people at this job, this activity that's played all over the world. Just come in and play that way.

[01:11:15] But I think a lot of teams are going to butcher it because either they don't have a real plan or they have lame duck coaches or they have lame duck GMs. And they, they signed bad, bad contracts. And now they're just kind of stuck. And that's the unfortunate part of like, you know, they say 50% of it's where you land as a player. And I think this is probably a big draft for that. And just to show you how unbiased I'm not.

[01:11:44] You know, say my next two are from, you know, former Kentucky players, you know, Bryce Hopkins, you know, had he could be explosive, but he's had a few injuries. And I just wonder if there's just a little bit too much there. Or Otega Owe, you know, he was on Kentucky this year, their best player. He's that traditional put your head down and he can get to the basket whenever he wants. So maybe if all clicks well, maybe he could be a smaller J-Dub.

[01:12:13] But I don't think he has that type of athleticism or explosiveness that J-Dub has. So I could see him being an end of the bench guy, probably spending a lot of time in the G League. I like Isaiah Evans as a college basketball player. I just don't know. I see a little bit of Malik Monk there. So like there's a prototype for him to follow. Kingston Flemons, we talked about him, you know, 40 and a half inch vertical. Very small.

[01:12:43] Yeah, he is. You know what I mean? They listed him at 6'4", and I don't believe it. Even if he's 6'4", he's probably 184. Like he just doesn't – he doesn't look like he – it doesn't look like he's going to take on contact. Right. So that's why I said, is he going to be Davion Mitchell or is he going to be Mike Cung? You know what I'm saying? That's where we got to figure that out with him. Davion Mitchell's a dog, though. Like, yeah. He is. Yeah.

[01:13:13] He's the Clemens I think he is too. Like on defense at least. On defense at least. He's very slender. Well, Davion Mitchell ain't exactly Donovan Mitchell. But Davion Mitchell's like more of a bulldog. He kind of looks like a tall Ray Rice. He kind of looks more like a running back than Fleming does. You think so? He looks a little more like a bully. Yeah. I think Fleming just – he looked a little slim to me in my opinion.

[01:13:38] So they got Mitchell listed at 6'202. And then they have Fleming's listed at 6'4", 190. Maybe. Exactly. So, like, you got four short inches, stocky, like a tall running back. You look like a safety out there when he balls guys. You know what I mean? I want to see if Braden Smith, the all-time NCAA assist leader,

[01:14:06] can be a Peyton Pritchard type for somebody. He's only 5'10", so it's going to be a tough road to hoe. Nate Amitt, I was talking about him all year. But Tennessee players are hard to gauge because Rick Barnes plays that 1980s offense. So you never really get to see the player's true potential, I believe. Their shooting percentages are down. And then they come into the league and they play okay. So I think he might be the next in that tradition. But, hey, the draft is next Tuesday.

[01:14:36] You can blame J.J. Redd for not playing Dalton Connect. Next Tuesday and Wednesday, the NBA draft. And then Mr. Logical. Yeah. Brendan Sorsby, you up to date on him now? I saw some today. I was watching the Rich Eisen show. I had Tom Pellicero on there talking to Rich Eisen. And I'm going to go back to the judge's ruling.

[01:15:04] And I'm going to go back to an event that Pellicero mentioned. The judge ruled basically that Brendan Sorsby should be able to play, for lack of a better term, for his mental health. To not destroy him, you know, in his future. It's almost like that swimmer, right? He hasn't been. Yeah. It's like he hasn't been judged for his mistakes yet.

[01:15:33] Like, you have to have some accountability. Like, I have four kids and a grandkid. And I'm not going to front. I talk tough. I'm a total pushover. But at least I give you the scare first. Like, listen, man. You don't get ready to get to school all the time. I'm going to take your car keys. I'm not going to take his car keys because I don't feel like getting up and taking him to school anyway. So, I'm like, I just yell at him through the door and bang on the bathroom door and tell him to hurry up. But, like, at least he gets that. I'm just like, you know what, man? It's cool, man. Don't worry about it.

[01:16:03] You know, I don't want to ruin your mental health. Yeah, I don't want to yell at him in the morning. But at, like, some point, like, dog, you got to go. You got to, like, I need you to know that this is important. You got to hurry up. Let's go. Brendan didn't even get that. He went to a rehab place. I don't know how rehab stops you from something that's scientifically programmed to make you do what you're doing. You can't rehab from that. Gambling is a thing that's locked into you because it's psychologically,

[01:16:32] like, the monkey and the banana trick. It's like a thing. But it's beyond alcoholism because now it just plays on your mind. Like, alcoholism affects you because the chemical that you actually put into your body created dependency on it. With gambling, because social media comes being sued for the suit, it's deliberate. The way the dings sound on your phone when you get a text message is the same way the dings sound in the casinos when you hear that.

[01:16:57] So I don't know what he got out of this in six weeks in a rehab location or four weeks, however long it's been. Because I don't even think it's been six weeks. Getting a judge to say his, you know, his mental health is at stake. And then all these people saying, you know, he's a young guy that made a mistake. I'm like, dog, it was four years. $90,000. Pete Rose didn't get in the Hall of Fame because he gambled on his own team. Which source he did as well.

[01:17:26] Like, it's not as if you are behaving in a situation where there's some gray areas, some ambiguity. You knew you weren't supposed to gamble on your team. But you knew because you weren't traveling on a team, you still had inside information that you were betting on your team. So, like I said, personally, I would have let him play. You'd let him play. You get the injunction. You play it out. I thought the reaction of everybody else in, oh, the audacity is going to play. I'm like, yo, you have guys on your team that don't do their homework.

[01:17:57] Like, let's keep it real. There's 25 guys that are taking the same class and one graduate assistant doing all their homework. We know it. We know there's improprieties. There's people who got hired. So, like, you guys are out there breaking the rules. Listen, you're in a glass house. Don't throw stones. But for them to act as if he deserves zero punishment or zero scrutiny is beyond me. And the fact that he's trying to make this leap to the NFL is like, bro, talent versus tolerance. There's not a lot of teams that need him at quarterback.

[01:18:26] If he was defensive end or offensive tackle, I think people might be, you know, they might be able to turn the blind out. Like, let's start to think they don't need quarterbacks. Well, you know, he, I do think there's a, obviously there's a long leap between gambling and homework. You know what I'm saying? Like, one is actually illegal. You know what I mean? Within the sport that you're playing. But I get your point. And, you know.

[01:18:55] But if you guys are academically ineligible and you're letting someone else do their homework, that's the same. It's the same. I'm talking about just the fact that you have a guy on your team that will be ineligible on his own merit and you are allowing someone else to do it. And I know these teams have that. Georgia Tech, it takes like a fortune on an SAT to get into Georgia Tech. It's a very tough school to get into. You and see a lot of the schools in the same way. All these guys that are playing sports are not meeting an academic level. So there's already some leeway being given. And I'm pretty sure you're.

[01:19:24] It's logical making the case for DEI. Yeah. And you know what I mean? Everything's hard at DEI. You know, but. Diversity, equity, inclusion is a natural state. So the Big 12 came out and said, we're going to court because, you know, we should be able to punish you as far as keeping you out of the conference championship game, you know, and all these other different punishments that school would get, you know, if they played Soresby.

[01:19:53] So what does Soresby do? He goes to Texas Tech, says, you know what? I'm out. Now he's going to the supplemental draft. So now Texas Tech doesn't have that to worry about. Now they just have to figure out what they're going to do at quarterback because their backup from last year is coming off the ACL, you know, should at least miss the first two games. But those are the cupcakes anyway. You know what I mean? But Mr. Logical. June 16th. You know what I'm saying? In August.

[01:20:23] Yeah. June 16th. Man, just go ahead, drop out of your school and walk onto our football team. We'll give you $4 million. Watch how pissed off they are when that happens. Here's a question for you. What player got drafted in the supplemental draft and made the Hall of Fame? Chris Carter. Correct. Correct. Oh. Yeah.

[01:20:52] So just some other notable names from the supplemental draft. Chris Carter. Bernie Kosar. I don't know what I'm saying, guys. Bernie Kosar. Josh Gordon. Bobby Humphrey. The Boss. You know Brian Bosworth. This will be a name for you. You'll love this name. Tito Wooten. You know what I mean? Steve Walsh. Rob Moore. Terrell Pryor. Brendan Soresby.

[01:21:19] So the rule of thumb on Brendan Soresby was he was a late first round pick. Probably would go ahead of Ty Simpson. You know, I didn't have him that highly. I thought of him more as towards the back of the second, early third maybe. But now that he's going into the supplemental draft, do you think that a team, if a team does take him, because there hasn't been a player drafted in the supplement since 2019.

[01:21:49] So do you think that a team is going to just hold out if they want him until, say, the fifth round? Or do you just try to grab him because he's a quarterback? So there hasn't been a quarterback taken in the supplemental draft? No, there hasn't been a player drafted, a player in general.

[01:22:11] So I'm not sure you do, mainly because this just happened. Just let it undrafted and invite him to camp maybe? I don't think you do any of that. Okay. I don't think you touch him. I don't think you touch him mainly because it's like you have zero. Jets and the Cardinals might need him. I feel you.

[01:22:42] But you have, as far as we know publicly, I don't know what agency did an investigation. I don't know if there's been any depositions, any affidavits, anything that's sworn to that is an account of what happened,

[01:23:05] other than these reports that he was using, like his own account or whatever, bank account, gambling account, this team. So there's no information as far as investigation that he was fixing games, that he was telling a guy who played safety to, hey, man, let up that touchdown. So we only win by six versus 13.

[01:23:34] Like, hey, here comes the sluggo. Yeah, so there's not a lot of information as far as like, because if you think about just gambling at that level and the risk you're already taking, I doubt just my criminal justice brain that that's the only risk you take. It's like, I can't imagine you were just like, oh, I'm not going on the road with the team. I'm just going to bet. Like, did he get access to the injury report? Did he share that information with other people?

[01:24:03] Was he part of a gambling group? But if there hasn't been like a quantitative, you know, qualifying, qualitative investigation, why, as an NFL team, am I going to take a chance on you? And then as soon as I do, someone reaches out to him and tries to extort him. Fair enough. Tells him, hey, if you don't tell me, if you don't get me this money, I'm going to put the rest of the story out there. Now, I'm the Cleveland Browns because for some reason they like to take a lot of quarterbacks. Now I got egg on my face with another quarterback.

[01:24:31] I just don't see the NFL team really taking that risk just because of the ambiguity in this case. Other than that, it's just him saying he's sorry and the judge saying, we don't want you to have bad feelings about yourself. You want to play ESPN real quick? Let's hear it. Does the Texas Ohio State winner win the national title? No. Okay. I don't think so either. All right. So.

[01:25:00] Is it 2014 this year? Is it back to, is it 12? No, no, it's still 12 this year. Still 12. Still 12. It's still, that's still, that's still a tough tournament. That's still a tough tournament to get through. Placement. Who's going to get a home game? Who isn't? Who's going to play? Okay. 200 miles away from home. Well, let's do this a different way. Let's do this a different way then. Is it guaranteed that the winner of Texas Ohio State is in the playoff?

[01:25:30] No, because I don't think Julian Sane is that dynamic of a quarterback. I think he was just a check down Charlie. And I have no idea if Arch Manning is a big game ball or not. I know his name says so. There's a few circles in his, and his, you know, at his family Thanksgiving. But I haven't seen, I haven't seen the moment where it's like, okay, this is college football top tier Arch Manning game changer. So they can beat Ohio State and still go 9-3. Okay.

[01:25:59] So what I'm looking forward to, so first thing I'm looking forward to this year, Mr. Logical, and obviously we'll have our previews coming up, you know, probably closer to the beginning of July. But as I think about this, the first thing that I'm looking the most forward to, I think, is the SEC is finally playing their nine-game conference schedule. You know, we've heard for years how tough the SEC is, how every week is murderers row.

[01:26:27] Teams like Florida made it sound like they played Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, you know, Tennessee, you know, A&M, you know, all of them in the same year. Last year they almost did, but generally speaking, they don't. The reason that I'm looking so forward to that, Mr. Logical, is because we were talking about how weak or not weak the East was earlier in the NBA.

[01:26:50] Well, in the SEC, Georgia or Alabama has won 12 out of the last 14 SEC titles, you know, and I feel like Georgia is one of the most underappreciated programs there are, because people like you like to focus on what they do behind the wheel, you know what I'm saying? But here they are. And hold on, hold on. And I am not trying to disrespect the Golden State Warriors.

[01:27:16] This is just a fact, you know, saying since 2020, Georgia is 73-9. And, you know, I think that's one of those things, you know, they won three out of the four last four SEC titles. They're 3-0 against Texas since Texas joined the SEC, you know what I mean? But I think that since they haven't necessarily been winning the national titles at the clip that they had started,

[01:27:46] I think people kind of just forgot about Dre, if you will. So that's a huge thing. I think that's another part of fan, fandom and fanatics and just this fantasy that people live in as people who watch sports. It's not a given to win the national championship. It's tough. And I know we talk about the SEC and these bowl games where the SEC will play like Iowa in a bowl game

[01:28:14] or an SEC school will play like a Mountain West school. And, you know, they'll play like seven or eight bowl games and the SEC will go five and three or three and five or something like that. And people are like, is the SEC down? I was like, no, look at your NFL rosters. Your NFL rosters are flooded with SEC players. So the SEC is not down. They do play a few more tougher games than other conferences. But I'm also not going to like, all right, cool.

[01:28:42] You are nine or eight and four in SEC after your 12 games and another team is 10 and two. I can't just elevate you to the playoffs. I understand that the strength of schedule matters. But in the same sense, this other team plays the schedules they played as well. So you got to rank them accordingly, even though you might think like, oh, eight and four Mississippi State is better than a 10 and two Iowa State.

[01:29:11] But 10 and two does matter. Playing and winning your games that you play matters. So you have to take that into account. But the SEC is good football. It's good football. They're good football players. It's spread out. The transfer portal has kind of evened it out a little bit. But these guys are still winning these games. They're still winning 10, 9, 10, 11 games every year, the top tier teams in the SEC. And the bottom tier ones that lose their coaches and lose their players, they lose teams as well.

[01:29:38] So it's like they're not an invincible force. It's just this weird argument that people make. It's like, no. But they still have the best crop of players because that region of America produces the best college football players. It's just a fact. And just because we're talking about the SEC, let me throw that plug out there. Mark your calendar, Mr. Logical. September 19th. Lane Kiffin goes back to Oxford.

[01:30:09] I got another day for you, November 7th. Oh, yeah. That's the big day. That's going to be a crazy day. The SEC matchups are crazy and the national matchups are crazy. So, yeah. So, yeah.

[01:30:24] Like, the SEC is going to, unfortunately, not get all of their teams that they believe are – like, I don't think they're going to get four teams in out of the 12. But I believe preseason, as an organization, they probably feel like they have four teams that should be in off the bat. But, unfortunately, it just – it won't work that way. Well, the streets want to know.

[01:30:55] Are you riding with the Gamecocks this year? I'll let you know in a preview. It kind of burned me. It happens. All right. What you got on your list? You got it? Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. That's what you were saying. Yeah, like I said, they kind of burned me a little bit last year. But that was on me. I was kind of just hopeful.

[01:31:23] I think South Carolina Penn State was, like, a hopeful thing. You know. I'm looking forward to James Franklin of Virginia Tech. You know, so growing up – Oh! You took it from me. So, I think that's huge. I think his departure from Penn State was just – it goes back to my question that I always have.

[01:31:45] It's like, I get that this guy isn't beating the two top coaches in your conference. But what's the likelihood of you getting rid of him and bringing in a guy who has never coached on the level to even compete with those two guys? So, it's like, you know, it's a double-edged sword. I understand you need to make a change.

[01:32:14] I assume, like, the reason that they made a change – they had a bad run. I mean, losing to UCLA was a bad look. And you probably chalked it up to, like, yeah, you're out of here. But the writing was on the wall for so long. And it's like, why? Why is a writing on the wall so long for a guy? I get it. Brian Day has a really good team. Ohio State's a really good program. Well, the crazy part about it is – It's going to be, you know, 11-1 Penn State.

[01:32:39] Well, the crazy part about it was is that James Franklin was basically Brian Day in a lot of ways, you know, as far as the record in, you know, like, playing against – beating who they should beat. But here's the thing to your point, right? Ohio State, since 2015, is 117-21. You fired him because he couldn't beat them.

[01:33:04] Not because he couldn't beat them and Michigan or and Oregon or and whoever, but just because he couldn't specifically beat that team. But I'm looking forward to Virginia Tech, too. He lost 21 games in 11 years. Yeah. But this is why I'm looking forward to Virginia Tech because I think Penn State is going to be really good this year. You know, they brought in Matt Campbell from Iowa State. I think they could still go 9-3, possibly 10-2.

[01:33:32] But when I look at Virginia Tech, the problem with James Franklin was, hey, you can't beat the top 10 teams. Oh, he in the ACC now. The only thing you got to worry about is Miami. You know what I'm saying? Maybe if Clemson decides to get their act together. But look at this, Mr. Logical. So this is their out-of-conference schedule this year. BMI. ODU. And a road game at Maryland.

[01:34:02] You know what I mean? Now, in the ACC, they do go to Clemson. You know, and they play Miami. So, as they used to say back in the day, anything less than 9-3 would be uncivilized. But, like, the funny part about that is their former head coach, Virginia Tech's head coach, Brent Prye, who they fired, was James Franklin's defensive coordinator at Penn State before he became the Virginia Tech head coach.

[01:34:30] Somehow, James Franklin got him to stay at Virginia Tech as the defensive coordinator, even though they fired him. You know what I'm saying? Like, that man can sell water to a whale, apparently. But he also is bringing in Ethan. That's Tom T. recruiter. Yeah. He's bringing in Ethan Grunkemeyer. So, catch up popsicles to a woman in white gloves. He's bringing in Ethan Grunkemeyer with him, who was the quarterback that took over, you know, after the injuries last year.

[01:34:58] You know, they got Luke Reynolds, who's the number four recruit in the portal. You know, he's got that Tyler Warren kind of ability. You know, they got their leading rusher back, their first and third leading receivers. They got experience on the offensive line. It's all systems go in Blacksburg, I think. But to your point, Mr. Logical, we were talking about Ohio State and are they going to make the playoff or not. So, this is a part of their schedule.

[01:35:26] At Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, USC, home for Michigan. All those four were road games, by the way. At home for Michigan and Oregon. The USC and Oregon are back-to-back and the Nebraska and Michigan are back-to-back. Ain't no problem.

[01:35:55] 117-21, baby! Ain't no problem. Like, the average, what is it, like 1.9 losses a year. And that includes five some years where they had three. Ohio State just, we talk about how Miami got Darren Mensah in the transfer portal. They kept Malachi Tony.

[01:36:19] But Ohio State keeps trenched players coming through those tunnels and the horseshoe every year. That's where they went. Julian Sagan wasn't that good of a quarterback. I think he had a little over 3,000 yards passing last year. So, that's Jeremiah Smith. Like that 80% completion percentage. Because he's still, he's still on them, but flat routes and slants. They got Christian Rejulia coming in.

[01:36:46] So, they, they, every year they get the top tier, top high school recruit from one of the top high school programs nationally. I imagine they have the pick of the litter for the top players in the state of Ohio just immediately.

[01:37:06] Like, just, if I'm a four or five star player in the state of Ohio who plays rivalry-based high school football, like, big deal games. Like, there's high schools in Ohio that have indoor training facilities and the Bengals don't. So, like, that's the kind of high school football that they play in Ohio. You love shooting on the Bengals, don't you? But that's just, that's just a, that's just a testament to how good the football is in Ohio.

[01:37:34] And then you still have Western PA guys that still go to Ohio. And then maybe a couple of Michigan top tier guys that don't get offered to Michigan at the level that they want. And they're like, okay, fuck, I'm going to stick with the Michigan. I'm going to go to Ohio State. They have that in the bag on top of all the money that comes in through Nike endorsements, popularity, endowment, everything else. So, they have everything you need.

[01:37:57] So, even by accident, even if Julian State doesn't play well or say, God forbid, he rolls an ankle and you got to bring in, like, a backup of your second, third string guy, that guy's probably a four or five star recruit from some national program. So, you're going to plug and play with some of the best players in the country. Yeah. As long as you execute, hold on to the ball, you're probably going to win any game you're in if you're Ohio State. I was talking to one of my Michigan buddies the other day.

[01:38:24] He told me that the biggest win that Ohio State ever had over Michigan was Toledo. And can you really count that as a win? So, then, you know what I mean? Here's one for you. Are you excited to see how different the national champions look? And what's Sid Nasty going to do this year?

[01:38:47] I don't know how many dudes he has on the team that were born in 2004, but he probably has a lot of them. Because that's how you want a bunch of guys that were born right after the towers fell. So, we're still playing college football this past January. And that's how he won. I don't know if it's the program or if it's just his program is probably good.

[01:39:16] Like, he talked about his practice and how, you know, efficient they are. But that works if you have a guy who's been in a college football defense for three years. In a college football locker room for three years. It's putting on 20 or 30 pounds of muscle. And now you're just putting them into your 4-3, your nickel, your zone run scheme, your RPL action, all the other stuff. Because they've already been developed at another school.

[01:39:43] So, if the quarterback they got from TCU, I know Sonny Dykes kind of threw some shade about how many times a kid turned the ball over. Yeah, he was just better. Yeah, understandable. But if that kid watches enough Mendoza tape, it was like, yo, this is RPL. This is Slant Route. Throw it. And we'll be good to go. But that's going to be interesting.

[01:40:11] I can't imagine that it's going to be as good as the past year. Yeah. You know, and I got my eye on UCLA because, you know, Bob Chesney, the new head coach out there, guess where he came from? James Madison, guess what he's bringing with him? James Madison players. And, you know, those are guys that did play in the playoff last year. I know what happened when they got there, but they did make it. Oklahoma State, you know, I'm excited for this.

[01:40:38] You know, they got Drew Mestermaker, who led the nation in passing last year at North Texas. They got Caleb Hawkins, the running back, who was first in rushing touchdowns, fifth in rushing yards. Wyatt Young, third in receiving yards. You know, and they led the nation in total offense and scoring. And you know the best part? They're going to the Big 12. So, you know, don't be surprised to see Oklahoma State with a quick turnaround.

[01:41:12] Yeah, it's, I mean, the movement of the coaches and the players and taking the players with them. I get it. I love, I imagine, I love the loyalty. Hopefully, you know, my son gets his offer here in the next couple of weeks. You know, he plays well. That coach gets hired on and takes him. But right now, you got to see how it plays out. So, so far, it seems to be effective. It seems to be effective to hire a coach from a smaller school that has access to success.

[01:41:42] And then allowing him to bring whatever allotted number of his top-tier talented players are who still have eligibility. That seems to be the blueprint. We talked about it after the national championship, like who could be the next Indiana. A turnaround at Oklahoma State. Say they get you a good seven and five this year. I think that could get some guys who are like third, fourth string in Oklahoma to say, you know what?

[01:42:11] Maybe Stillwater's not a bad idea. Let's go to Stillwater. Let's go to Stillwater. See what we got. Was this Nussmeyer? What's the quote? Nestermaker. Nestermaker. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Nestermaker is right here. You know, 3,900 yards. I think he was just a freshman last year. He was a freshman last year. So if it looks good enough, you know, I think you'll be able to talk a couple of guys into leaving Norman to come over to Stillwater. All right.

[01:42:38] Maybe a couple of guys from Austin to make that take north. You never know. All right. Last question as we, you know, have this last little portion of our conversation. In the last 17 years, there has been one preseason Heisman that actually won the Heisman. Can you name that Heisman?

[01:43:08] Did he win it? He didn't win it. Preseason Heisman that actually won it. That actually won it. The last one. Baker Mayfield? No, that's a good guess, though. Marcus Mariota. Good one. I was thinking Adrian Peterson. He didn't win it, right? No, he didn't win it somehow. He should have won it, but he was a freshman. That's before they gave it to freshmen. Yeah. Jason White won it. I think it was 04. And then, yeah.

[01:43:38] But anyway, so I was going to – I say all that to talk about the Heisman, you know. So are there any – do you think that Jeremiah Smith? No. No. Why not? Tell me more. Because his numbers – in order to win the Heisman as a wide receiver, your numbers have to be ridiculous. And I think Ohio State's just going to beat the hell out of teams to the point where it threw in the ball to him to get him. I mean, like, wide receiver, even like what?

[01:44:08] 1,400 yards, 12 or 13 touchdowns to really be in a Heisman conversation? Let's see what Larry Fitzgerald would have. He's going to be doubled so much. And then, like I said, I think Ohio State's depth and just the talent that they have, they won't have to throw the ball at him that much. They're probably going to run three running backs out there, a couple of tight ends, the multiple wide receivers. I think he'll be a 1,000-yard guy. But I think some games he'll just be out there running cardio because they're going to triple team him.

[01:44:38] So Larry Fitzgerald – oh, go ahead. Keep going. Yeah. Keep going. I just feel like with the wide receivers, it's unfortunate with the awards because in order for you to have a good year, normally at one of these top-tier programs, the quarterback's also having a top-tier year. Devontae Smith, when he went out to get like 20 touchdown receptions, and Mack Jones is just throwing them bombs, but it just was like he was such an elite wide receiver and a group of wide receivers that it was proof that it wasn't Mack Jones

[01:45:05] and that he was a crim to the crim of that group of wide receivers and, of course, is Alabama. So that's why I think he won and earned that Heisman. All right. So I wanted to get to this in this particular – it just happened as you were talking. That's why I thought of it. So I thought Larry Fitzgerald should have won the Heisman back in 2003. To your point about the numbers. But as I was looking at this real quick, I got to go down this ballot.

[01:45:35] I got to go down this ballot just to show you how old we are. Okay. So Larry Fitzgerald that year in 2003, 92 catches, 1,672 yards for 18 yards of catch, 22 touchdowns, and he finished second. You know, with 22 touchdowns, he finished second. In 2003? Yeah. So Jason White won the Heisman that year.

[01:46:02] You know, so that was the year that I was talking about Adrian Peterson. All right. This is the rest of the – well, I ain't going to go down the rest of the list, but here's the names that pop on the rest of this list. All right. Third was Eli Manning. Fifth, Darren Sproles. Six, Matt Leinart. Seven, Phillip Rivers. Nine, Ben Roethlisberger. Darren Sproles? Darren Sproles. Wow. Yeah. He was Mr. Everything.

[01:46:32] Yeah, but normally they don't really – because, like, right now the odds – all right, the top contenders for the 2026 award include CJ Carr – I don't know why – Arch Manning, Trinidad Chambers, Jeremiah Smith, Julian Sand, Josh Hoover, Dante Moore. So you have one, two, three, four, five, six quarterbacks.

[01:46:56] So, like, the award is just so slanted to quarterbacks that Jeremiah Smith is probably going to be your first plug-and-play pro out of this group of seven players. But, yeah, he's fourth to win the top-tier award of quote-unquote amateur football. And you know what's crazy is I would probably add Mensah to that list.

[01:47:24] You know, I would probably add Gunnar stopped into that list. You know, but real quick – I wouldn't have six quarterbacks. I would take four of them off. But to your point, real quick, because we were just – Darren Sproles had 1,986 rushing yards that year. You know what I mean? So, yeah.

[01:47:50] Yeah, but as far as the Heisman goes, yeah, like, it's interesting, right? You know, because you could even argue that if you were just talking about impact – forget the stats for a second. You know what I'm saying? If you just wanted to talk about impact, what they bring to the team, what they do on the field, I would – as much as I hate to say this – I would probably give Malachi Tony a vote at some point. I was thinking the same thing. You know what I mean? He's going to be the – he's down there somewhere.

[01:48:19] Yeah, he's electric with the ball in his hands. He's going to have highlights, you know, if nothing else. He'll probably have two punt returns for touchdowns. Maybe, hey, we need a big kickoff here. We're down 23-20 in the fourth. He's going to go return the kick. I think that's – he's going to – he's more likely to have the Heisman moment just because he's so dynamic with the ball in his hand, whereas, like – I'm going to take an arch man up this list.

[01:48:48] I'm all arch man and trained. I'm starting – I'm saying it right now. Okay. Okay. Like, I'm just not buying it. Because he would have beat out Quinn years if he was – if he was that nice, he would have beat out Quinn years two years ago. And then I don't want to sound like last year, but, you know, said I'm going to add in Ahmad Hardy to this list. You know, all the talk about what can he do coming from the Sun Belt to the SEC. He had 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns, second in the nation in yards per game, rushing yards

[01:49:18] per game. So I'll add him to the list. You probably got to add Marcel Reed from A&M to the list. You know, so, like, hey, you know, it's going to be interesting. Like, the Heisman, you know, is dependent on a running back probably getting close to that record again. You know, because, you know, Ashton Jensie was chasing the record. And that was part of the reason why people thought that he could win the Heisman, because

[01:49:46] they had him breaking the record that he fell. I think it was 89 yards short of or something like that. So that didn't work out. So, yeah, it's going to be a quarterback award until it's not. Yeah. I think C.J. Carr has a good chance because he plays for the right school. You know what I mean? Like, I guess to some degree, and maybe this is me just making this up in my mind, but to

[01:50:11] me, that Notre Dame quarterback is like the college version of the Cowboy quarterback. You know, just the notoriety that comes with that. I still need 12 games. Hey, all you got to do is beat Miami. He in the conversation. I need 4,000 yards and 37 touchdowns, less than seven picks.

[01:50:38] Like, I need a big year out of a team that doesn't produce that from the quarterback position. Yeah. Last year, he had 27, 41, and 24 touchdowns. Man, go ahead. Take him off the list. Just go ahead. Take him off now. You mean to me? He's going to have a 14. Like, he needs at least 1,300 million yards of improvement. Well, I mean, Jeremiah Love, Andrew Derry, and Price aren't there this year. You know, they might throw the ball a little bit more.

[01:51:01] So now, when you are in third and 10 all the time, like you said, it's the color on the helmet. He shouldn't be on the list. I'm taking Arch off the list. I'm taking Julian Sand off the list. Who else should I have? Give me... I'm taking Dante Moore off the list. I'm taking all the quarterbacks off the list other than Trinidad Chambliss.

[01:51:31] Yeah, Trinidad, if Ole Miss can either, I'd say, go 10-2, you know, or get to the SEC title game, or both, then, you know, with all the drama, that's where the storyline comes in. You know, Kiffin left, new head coach. He's a defensive head coach at that. You know, so if Chambliss has the same type of year that he... Because you could argue that, you know, he was in the Heisman race last year and was

[01:52:00] probably a front runner at different times, you know, throughout the year. So if he does that this year, then yeah, he probably will bring home the Heisman, even though a lot of people are going to be upset and think that he shouldn't even be playing. Hey, listen. The judge said it. You couldn't play that year, could you? It was... It looked like a... Like an episode of a... What was it? What was that?

[01:52:27] That show we used to watch when we were young. The news show. Not the news show. The court show. Night Court. Matlock. Oh, Matlock. Perry Mason, all that. Yeah. It sounded like one of those. You mean it's something you couldn't play football because you were sick, right, son? That's exactly how you sounded. I was like, you know... He was like, no, sir, I couldn't play. He's like, you know what? I think you deserve another year of playing football. And shout out to Kojak, you know what I mean?

[01:52:56] And I forgot to mention... I forgot to mention, I want to see Vanderbilt year one post-Diego Pavia. Because, you know, they got the number two recruit in the nation at quarterback. You know, we'll see if he plays this year. But the point being, you know, were they just a Diego Pavia thing? Or are we starting to see a new school kind of rise up a little bit? And then, of course, before we close, I just got to say, Coach Prime, you know what I'm saying?

[01:53:26] What Colorado are going to do this year? Let me see it. You know what I'm saying? Ah, man. Like, listen. I'm always going to be a Deion fan. But it is a 7-5 team at best. Just because I don't think they... I don't think they just... I'm wondering if they're looking at 4-8. I don't think they... I think the celebrity of the team takes away from the brotherhood you need.

[01:53:55] When you're... I don't think Deion thinks he's at a disadvantage in Colorado. I think he treats his program as if it's as successful as a perennial SEC Big 12, old Pac-12 program where it's like, hey, this is the name on the front of the jersey. You come here. We are the standard. I believe he instills these standards into his players.

[01:54:22] And I think he has a standard built into his program that he's been, you know, mildly successful. I just think he thinks it's more successful and more appealing than it actually is. And I don't think he holds on the players because of that. I think he feels like, oh, I'm prime. I'm a Hall of Famer. I've raised Hall of Famers. I've been successful everywhere I went. Colorado is just another place where I'm successful.

[01:54:48] And then people are like, no, dog, you were successful because you raised a successful quarterback and you were able to get the top recruit in the country to come to your school and travel with you. But you're losing offensive linemen every year. And that's where you're weak every year. You're losing running backs every year. That's where you're weak every year. You're rolling the dice with quarterbacks every year. And it's like you're not replacing your son with what these guys are getting. Well, they got Julian now. You know what I mean? He played at the end of last year.

[01:55:13] So, you know, maybe those couple of games under his belt, you know, gave him a little bit to look forward to this season because he was a highly touted recruit. So Julian Lewis. So, you know, we'll see how it goes. I just don't think that they they just don't have the trench play. Like, that's why everybody. And the good news is they're in the Big 12. So, like, all these teams are kind of lumped in a bowl together. You still got to be able to pick up the blitz on third and two.

[01:55:41] You got you got to be able to if you go on fourth and one at midfield, you got to be able to call a run play and get that off. Like, if you if it's third and 17 and you got a deep drop, you got to be able to hold up up front. So that route develops on the back end with your quarterback that isn't Shador and wide receivers aren't Travis Hunter. And I'm not sure if there's or Western. Yeah, I'm not sure. Yeah.

[01:56:09] I don't think there's anyone in the building that can tell him. I don't think we are there as a program. Yeah, I think I think the I won't say the ego, but I think the the overwhelming confidence that he's always had. But it's like someone has to be there to tell you, like, oh, dog, this isn't working. Yes. Like Floyd Mayweather trying to get back into the ring with Manny Pacquiao again.

[01:56:34] But ladies and gentlemen, he is the world for now world famous school, calm and collected represent a new jerseys by way of the great state of Texas. The Lone Star and the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is Mr. Logical. Don't bring feelings to a fact fight. Don't do it. And for the right price. He can be a Nets fan.

[01:57:03] And then over here in the Alamo. Straight up for AJ. You're an unorthodox statistician going left so much. You thought I was Southpaw. You hear that Pacquiao take heed. I go by the name of two five. This is Sports Reports is ordered. We love you all. We will be back on Friday, you know, for our, you know, our second show of the week getting us ready for the NBA draft on Tuesday night. We will be live for that. So, you know, enjoy you. Enjoy the rest of your week.

[01:57:33] Catch you in a few days. And then Sports Reports is ordered. Out. Sports Reports. No gimmicks. No clowns. Two five. Mr. Logical. We run this town. Real talk only. No chasing. No doubt. From the east to the west. It's the order we shout. Mic check. Lights flash. Game time. Stay ready. Two vets in the zone. Keep the pressure real heavy. Big hits. Big plays. Yeah, we breaking it down.

[01:58:03] Truth rings in your speakers. Every word is the crown. From the north side. Hustle to that southern flame. Midwest grind. West coast in the game. Sports Talk Kings. Yeah, we wear that crown. Turn it up. Let them know. It's about to go down. Sports Report.