Luka and Lakers dominate March, Jalen Hurts & Eagles struggles, Tiger Woods arrested, Nick’s Tiers

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I'll buy everybody lunch. When, bro? Either this week or next. I guess next week. There's more hijinks coming up on this show. Wait to hear his takes. Get out of town. I'm strong at this. Today, how much of the Eagles' struggles are on Jalen Hurts. This is a joke, although I did have some rough time supporting Jalen Hurts this year. Meanwhile, World Cup Wednesday, Kobe Jones joins the show to see if there's a reason for optimism after two losses for Team USA. Your guys' due date theory is really going to be put to the test. Felicit. Christian Kulisic in the World Cup. He's due. He's definitely due. I mean, he hasn't scored this year for club or country. This year. Not great. It's April. I didn't love the taste. The timing isn't great. No, timing isn't great. Special Fresh from the Bahamas edition of Tears. What? You went to the Bahamas? Yeah. I did notice a little color in there. Thanks, buddy. Yeah. Well, go ahead. Nothing I was going to make a highlight. Oh, no. You did that before. And I got to say, bro, I told Wilde's this already. I don't know that there is a 50 square mile radius in the world where people seem to be a bigger fan of yours, KW, and I suppose mine. He's like, oh, something about the cable. Really? I don't know. I don't know why. It is the highest concentration of diehard first things first fans I've seen anywhere in the world is in the box. He said there's something about maybe the cable system in the Bahamas. I said maybe it's because you go down there once every six weeks. They do have a great good spot. Great casino down there. I get free room. And they just build a podcast studio. Podcast studio for you? Not for me, but I assume I could use it at some point. We start in LA. Luca put up 42 to close out in March with 600 points. LeBron had 14 set another record. 1,229 wins playoff in regular season. Most ever. Lakers' roll. Here's JJ on Luca post game. Luca has had a as good of a month as anybody that I can remember in modern NBA, at least since I've been part of it. You know, certainly LeBron has had those. Harden has had those. Steph has had those. But he just played phenomenally this month. Didn't mention a wilt chamberlain. This graphic never quite does. 600 points in a month. Luca wilt 18 times. He did average. And it's also a reminder. Elgin Baylor. Yes. What a great player he was. He averaged 38. Yeah. He was part time in the military is when he averaged 38. That's a true story. What's Luca approved of you this month? Well, as the graphic shows, Luca Donchich Nick is one of the greatest one on one offensive players ever. The only one I can definitively, I'm not saying there aren't guys you can argue. The only one I definitively put ahead of him is George. Just one on one offense. Some people are going to argue Kobe and all that's fine. But definitively better than him one on one. Only one I can say is Jordan. And when I covered the Knicks, Jeff Van Gundy was the coach. He didn't make this up. I don't think but he would always say your greatest strength can also be a greatest weakness. Luca's greatest strength is just that nobody can stop him one on one. I don't think it's his greatest weakness. Obviously that would be his defense. But I think a weakness can be that because he's so great one on one that everything has to revolve around him. And he doesn't get his offense in the flow of a system. So I'm not saying he's a better offensive player than say Larry Bird or Steph Curry or you can throw in some others. Because they got theirs within the flow of a system that enabled the team to really have great success. But one on one is hard to find better. That said, because I'm going to bring it to the Lakers. As almost as important for their success recently when they've gone 15 and 2 as Luca's greatness is LeBron's basketball IQ. I think LeBron James over this past month and a half or two. Since he came back from that injury. This is some of the smartest basketball he has played in his career. Because he has looked at the situation and said, OK, this is how I have to play to have success with Luca Donchich. And he's doing it. And so that but look what Luca is doing is incredibly impressive because Nick it's not based on athleticism, jumping ability. It's based on skill, strength and size and yes, his IQ and just his ability to just his IQ. Yeah, I mean, listen, you alluded to it, but you didn't specifically say it in that he's one of the best passers ever, in my opinion. Yeah, like so like when we say he's a great passer, right? We say one on one. I think people correctly think of one on one scoring, but his ability to get to any place on the court one on one creates, you know, a lot of his passing is one on one. Yes, I say, I mean, he creates assist, but it's still a lot of him doing it. And so not listen, I flow. I believe he has proven if he had not already. I think he proved this a couple of years ago and then the trade and the first time in his career, he wasn't elite in the playoffs was last year, the short playoff run, all of that, you know, kind of his star dimmed, I think is very fair to say. But he deserves consideration as the best player alive. I think there is, I think that if we, I know smart people, Brew is, you know, among others think Wimby, at least either is that a consideration. No, the reason I bring up, the reason I bring up Wimby is because if Wimby is in consideration, then it no longer is, you have to have won a title to be in the consideration for the point, you know what I mean. So I think that that that is a you can make. You think he's better than Yolkich? No, I don't think he's the best player alive. He wants him to be in the conversation. I think that I think that there are four people you can make the argument for and be on stable ground. I think Yolkich is the best player alive. I do think he's better than Shay. I understand Shay has a ring and an MVP. I think that guy's better. So you can't get Yonis out of the conversation? Yonis is no longer to me in that conversation. I think the, right. Yonis won his MVP five and six years ago, six and seven years ago. You know what I mean? Like so. And I think he deserves LeBron hovers over all of it because he's LeBron and because he's had to change his role, all that stuff. But the Lakers have shattered, shattered expectations already this year. And he's the driving reason. Here's the list of teams that were projected to win more games in Los Angeles Lakers this year. A bunch of Western Conference teams, the Warriors, the Clippers, the Timberwolves, the Rockets, the Nuggets, who by the way, those teams in large part aside from the Warriors and the Rockets number came after Van Vleet was already hurt. So that was knowing Van Vleet was hurt. The Lakers have been less healthy than the Timberwolves or the Clippers, the Nuggets you could argue. Austin Rebs and LeBron have missed 47 games, you know, but between the two of them, both have missed around a third of the season. They have already, they are alongside Detroit, the Spurs and the Celtics for really good teams who already have hit their win total over this year. They were projected to win 46 and a half games, their sit-in at 50 with six games left. I don't remember that being that low. No, I mean, a lot of respected people thought they were going to miss the playoffs outright. They had the 7th best Western Conference playoffs odds and it's because of Luchin primarily, not exclusively primarily. And what has bothered me about some of the Luka discussion or MVP discussion has been, it has been framed as if it's just this month. This month has been his best month, but he was Western Conference Player of the Month in January. The Western Conference Player of the Month this year has gone Joker, then Shay, then Luka, then Wimby, and we'll see who's going to win it from March slash April, but it would appear Luka is the front runner for it, I would imagine. And so I just think that there has been, he has been put in this box of great, great player, but, and none of the three other guys who I think are in the discussion for best player alive, do we focus on the but part of their game, but we do with him more than I think we should, maybe not we specifically, but the general we because I would say that's because Shay and Yolkich have won championships and Wimby is still third year. He's so young. And Luka in his third year, nobody was focusing on the buts. You see what I'm saying? Like Luka's gotten to that stage where it's like, all right, you guys start winning, win a championship at least. And I'm not saying he can't. I'm just saying that is why people are starting to focus on the buts. It's, go ahead kiddo. No, that's it. You want to have the final word? I'm going to move on. The no, go ahead. If Wimby seven years in hadn't won yet, people start. But I so can I on that? So just real quick, I guess I do want a final word on it. It, it doesn't, it doesn't it seem to you though, Brew, like a lot of the I know he hasn't won a title, but he has. He has never lost a playoff series to a lower ranked seed. He has multiple times upset. You know, he has three playoff series where his team was the underdog that they won. He made a finals at he's 26 now. So 24, you know, and so like he, he made a Western Conference finals going through the one seed defending Western Conference champion, Phoenix sons at 22. He's won road game sevens, done all those things. It just, I understand he wasn't great in the finals against Boston, but we can't hang around him. And I'm not saying you are like, yeah, he's this great regular season player, but in the playoffs, he's great. And so like it just, it feels, I don't know why it feels like the wheels spun and landed on him. Like, yeah, he's not, he's great, but, and I just think he's great. Well, some of that might have been that, and this has happened to almost, it seems like every player displayed with LeBron and I'm not blaming LeBron for it. But when they went through that stretch where they're not winning when LeBron's on the court, they're not playing well, it feels like he got maybe, like there maybe was an overreaction to that. And obviously LeBron got some criticism, but Luca got a lot too. It's like, man, you can't fit with LeBron. So maybe that's some of the third youngest player with 15,000 career points. What is the phenomenon? I had to fill it off here for the latest chapter in the saga of Jalen Hertz in the Eagles. Today, Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler dropped an article headline. Inside the Eagles 2025 friction as Jalen Hertz stands at a crossroads. A lot to digest. We'll start with just one poll quote here. Close observers point to the lack of creativity and synergy in the Eagles attack. Pass game wasn't properly tied to the run. There's a level of predictability that allows opposing defenses to get a beat on what's coming. Though there's plenty of way to spread. Hertz has had a hand in the offense becoming calcified according to several team sources. That's an interesting poll quote. There was so much. The whole thing. What do you want me to take? I don't. That was. That's a good one. Listen, you have editorial judgment particularly on the read. It's an absurd. There was a lot in that story that was maybe you think it was unfair, but stinging indictments of Jalen and that was more of the, it was a group failure. Like there was. Yeah, that's I'm trying to be neutral. But that story, it wasn't a neutral story. The story was a 10 sources say he's not getting enough blame for what happened last year. That's the elevator pitch of the story. That wasn't my pitch. I'm just saying. Did you feel that? I thought there was a lot of sour grapes in the article to be honest with you. Yeah, I felt like. And it was a great article. Jeremy Fowler and I can't remember. Yeah, man is. But I felt like they set out to see what was the problem with the offense last year. And then Jalen's name kept coming up. I didn't feel like, but let me give you my biggest takeaway. A lot of people in the locker room, players on the coaching staff and in the front office feel like AJ Brown. Yes. And probably. Were not upset that he was putting it out there like that. And so. I am starting to actually question. And I know there's a lot of stuff out there, but whether AJ Brown will be traded because if a lot of people in the organization feel like he's right, then why would you trade such a great player? Now, I think I didn't think the article was completely just a hit job on Jalen. I think it just talked about it was pretty matter of fact. He doesn't. He's stubborn. And they didn't even say it all in a negative way. It's just he's stubborn. He has his way of doing things. He's obviously been successful doing it. He's always got these new coordinators coming in and out. So maybe the article didn't say this. I'm saying this. Maybe he doesn't trust them that look, I know what I'm doing. I'm not trusting them the right to go these other ways, but it clearly he doesn't like motion. He doesn't like shifts on the offense. He doesn't want to be under center. Yes. And so what I think though, he's in zone coverage. Right. And he has to look, look, this year wasn't successful. I think maybe he will look at it this year and be like, look, we didn't have success. We got, they got a new coordinator coming in, Sean Manion, who's going to want him under center with some play action and stuff like that and some motion and stuff. So I, I think he may be open to adjusting or changing some things. Cause if he, look, he didn't last year he had the career low in yards, rushing yards and rushing attempts. If he's not going to be able to be the runner he has been in the past, then he's going to have to become a better passer and do some of these things. So I thought it was a very good article. I didn't think it was a hit job. I think it just pointed out he's our leader. He does have these deficiencies and that's been part of our problem, but we think he can work through it. My biggest takeaway was I don't know who runs the Eagles offense. I think if you look at the other successful offenses around the league, Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, I think there's an element of shared responsibility. I think if you ask Patrick Mahomes, he's like me and Andy and now Eric Biannemy, we all share it. And if you asked Andy Reedy, he would say Patrick. And if you asked Stafford, you know, me and McVeigh. And I think if you asked Jaylen Hertz, he would probably say there's, this is what I would say if I was Jaylen Herb. There's been so much flux around me. I kind of have to run it. So we've shown this graphic before and we updated every year. These are his play callers going back to college. He gets a new guy every year. So I didn't see anything outlandish in his reaction to having a new system every time. And it felt a little sour grapes and it's always fun to do. Like I wonder who that unnamed source is. Well, there were 10. They talked to 10 Eagles sources. So it's not just, it's not, you know, just guys who got fired and but go ahead. But that's the idea that he wants to do what works for him. And he doesn't want to have a brand new offensive wardrobe just because you come in. I want to wear the clothes that I've been successful in. Maybe you want to add a tie? Sure. You want to add a lapel pin? That's fine. But I'm not doing something brand new every year, especially when I have a Super Bowl MVP. Right. All right. Can I, can I be wildly, I'm saying on the front end, wildly unfair to you, Kevin Wilde. Sure. I would love it. When, how did you do in your head and what was, did you make like a prose consulate when you were like, all right, I'm a Jalen Hurts guy. Yeah. I also am on the record. Nick Siriani, John Madden, John Madden, Nick Siriani. That's just the facts. That's not even a great, that's not an opinion. That you, that you, you love both of these guys. You have steak, you, you have gone to war. I love his results. You have gone to war. I like winning. In defense of both of these guys. So at any point, like, was it hard for you to decide, all right, I'm going to throw Siriani. I'm going to throw Siriani on the bus. You just did. No, I didn't. I said who's in charge? He's excited. You said, you said every other quarterback would say them and their off hand head coach. Right. He said off into my, but he's not playing. He's hands off. Yeah. He's hands off. Okay. So I just, hold on. Who's the one changing coordinators every year? Some guys get like, Patulo could have stayed. Brian Johnson could have stayed. I know some two guys have left for head coaching jobs. That's one thing. Right. So I, it feels to me like, and I, by the way, don't disagree with this take. This is where you're going that Siriani has not done, did not do last year as good of a job as you would like. And this article is putting it at jail and hurts his feet and that you think is unfair. Maybe I'm misreading that. But it doesn't, if, if there was intense faith in the offensive minded head coach, it's Sean McVeigh. The coordinators change all the time too, because they get new head, they get jobs. Sean Manion just came from there. Like they, um, but it's fine because it's his system. Nick Siriani is, it's not his system. He's like a CEO. Right. His CEO type, even though he wasn't an offensive minded guy. I, so I find, I think that for the coach and the quarterback next year is very, very important. More so for the coach, but I, the, the idea that the Eagles won't make monumental moves at not just coach, but also quarterback. We know they will. And we know that I think Bruce point on the AJ Brown thing is one that I was kind of flirting with over the course of last year, which was if the locker room was as enraged by AJ Brown's comments as we were, he wouldn't have still been so popular. His teammates, you know, and so there was there an element of man, he might not be going about this the right way, but somebody's got to say something. Right. And so, you know, we were glad. Maybe the wish in Siriani or Petula would have said it, but they won't. And so I just, I think that the other point that Brew made is correct, which is if Jalen Hertz, and this is where, you know, you guys know I have thought the Russell Wilson comp is the comp. They both went to multiple colleges. They both won everywhere they went. They both fell in the draft. They both went to two Super Bowls early winning one, losing one. They both had odd relationships with their teammates. It would seem there was always a question of how much credit, how much is clutch, how much is this, but their winning percentage was crazy. But here is one thing Russell Wilson to his credit did do very well at the tail end of his time in Seattle when he was still excellent. When the running and scrambling stopped being such a weapon, he did become a better passer. That is what Jalen must do. Right. He must become a better passer. If you're not going to have this truly dynamic dual threat, then he's got to be able to throw over the middle of field better. He's got to be able to be more anticipatory with throwing. And that's not, that doesn't mean he stinks. That doesn't mean you can't win with him. They already won Super Bowl with him. But he has to improve, including it would seem from a leadership perspective, because whatever his leadership style is, this article implies it's not resonating the way it once did. I think that's very fair. I think that his stoicism might work for him, but it might not be the best for the entire team as well. That's a hard thing to change. Yes. That's his personality. I don't even think, I mean, I'm not in the locker room, but he probably doesn't mean it in any negative way. It's just how he is. He's not shunning you and blowing you off. It's just, No, but he can, I'm going about my own business. He can add to his passing repertoire. He can add, remember there was an anecdote in the article that Fox Sports first reported and they denied it, that Big Dom and Brandon Graham went over there like, no. So that was true. I still believe in it. I'm not saying you should. Let's head to the pitch, shall we? Two friendlies for the U.S. turned ugly. Saturday we lost to Belgium, five to two. Then we bounced back against Portugal. We lost two-nothing. Here's manager Pochettino. Even if it's painful, it's the only way to improve. It's the only way to learn. It's the only way to see how these top players and teams compete. Belgium, Portugal. I think for sure, Belgium and Portugal have in the top 100 players few or some player playing in that top 100. I think we don't have. That is why it's good to play again this type of team. They've got good players. We don't. Here's the thing. See their lineup. They've got players in top 100. We don't. Here's the tail of the tape. We only had eight total shots on target. Touches in the opponent's back 27. LLM fewer than Belgium, then 18 against Portugal. The bright side, to be fair, both of these teams are top 10 FIFA rankings. That's not the bright side. Guess what? They were supposed to beat us. The goal for this World Cup for the U.S. men's national team is for the second time in its real history, make the quarters. That is winning two knockout games. That is getting to the final eight. So you know who you're going to be playing in the round of 16? A top 10-ish team. You know who you might now play in the round of 32? Belgium. So the other thing that happened this week is Turkey A won its qualifier. So the U.S. went from massive favorite to win its group to slight favorite to win its group. And the first place team in group D, I'm not even going to open my eyes to the possibility of not getting out of group play. But if they play like this, they could. But the first place team in group D ends up playing one of the third place teams because they've expanded the field. But the second place team in group D plays the second place team from group G, which could be a rematch against Belgium in your first knockout round game. They have to be better. And I could not be more excited for this tournament. I was streaming the Italy Bosnia game on my way to the airport yesterday. But this is horrifying couple games to go along with Turkey A winning its little tournament to add themselves to our group. Well, look, the guy he left out of the top 100, Christian Pulisic, obviously, is just going to have to play better. This slump, and you mentioned Nick, he hasn't scored this calendar year since January. 15 straight games now in all the different competitions he's in. He has not scored a goal. 15 straight. And so they they are not good. It's going to be tough sledding if he doesn't get back to form. And I don't think Pochettino was like trying to embarrass Pulisic or embarrass him into playing better or trying to, you know, be smart and pointing him out or when he's just looking at it like none of our guys right now are playing at a top 100 level. And that's why we got beat andily. And so Pulisic is going to have to be much better for them to have a chance of doing what Nick suggested. We've got Kobe Jones coming up next hour. I'll leave you with this. Lynn and Donovan quote. There's no question that conceding five goals at home three months before the World Cup is going to do psychological damage to the team and the players. Josh. Luckily, they responded by only conceding two. You know what? Next game one against May 31st against Senegal. Germany. Shout out. Not great. Josh doesn't have the confidence. Josh. Gotta believe it. This was like classic. Will the Marby have voluntary practice next on FS1, the Fox Sports Show on Series 6S. And so we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. And we're going to have to look at some of the most interesting and exciting things that we've seen in the past. You just said it. He's hardly ever there. Okay. Contractor, now I know that when he doesn't show up or likely doesn't show up, people are gonna point to, oh, he wants to contract extension, which I'm sure he does. But contractor, no, he's hardly ever shown up for off-season workouts. Even when he's got the contract in tow, he still generally doesn't show up for the voluntary workouts. Now, I think he should. I wish he would. You got a new OC. You got, obviously, got a new head coach. You're coming off a tough season individually and as a team. I think it'd be great to show leadership. It'd be great to show support for the new regime and all that. But if he doesn't show, which I tend to think he won't, I don't think it's going to be a huge deal because he's gonna be with the Ravens this year. And he's going to, I think he'll get the extension because they have put everything into the Lamar Jackson bucket. Getting rid of Harbaugh, having him involved in the interviews. Obviously they restructured his contract. But like they've said, we want to extend him. So he will be there. He'll be ready to go in training camp. I hope he shows up for these, but I'm not really expecting him to. Okay. So this is almost perfunctory at this point. But I have to say this on the front end. Father's union guy. Thank you, KW. As a union guy, I hate that the owners were correct in figuring out, if we call things optional, the people who cover the league will treat them as if they're not and guys will be shamed if they don't do the voluntary thing. When during the last CBA negotiations, the players are like, we want more money. And the owners are like, how about less days of work? Then it's like more money per hour, kind of. Players said yes. And then they're like, well, you're going to have to work the same. So principally, I'd be fine if nobody showed up for any of these. You want me to come to work, make it part of work. Realistically, as much of a union guy as I am, I really feel like that applies for everyone except for starting quarterbacks. And I think starting quarterbacks who have an outsized salary, an outsized role, an outsized influence do have an outsized responsibility that other guys don't have. You then add to it. That brew's right. Lamar historically is one of the few franchise starting quarterbacks that skips a bunch of these. But there is a huge distinction between having, skipping them when it's the same coach you've always had your whole career and skipping them when it's a new head coach and you are coming off maybe your only season of your career where you had like a really down, you know, a slump within it or losing record and individually your own, like all of that. So I wasn't, I think I'm not even focused on the contract part of it. Cause brew is totally correct that his attendance at this has not been correlated to the contract stuff. But the contract piece that does matter, at least in my mind is, particularly if you do want a new top of market contract, if I'm Steve Bishotti, it's a good sign if in a month or you know, that if you end up showing up for these. And so I don't think it would be good. And I also don't think it's unfair to say the quarterbacks, the two quarterbacks who either see Lamar eye to eye or are, you know, above him, you know, as far as accolades and accomplishments in this league, Josh and Patrick, we'd be pretty stunned if either of those guys didn't show up, you know, whether you have new head coach or not. That part to me is a fair criticism. And it's also, and here's the thing I would say to you, KW, not just a question, it's hard to answer. Why do, it's not like Lamar is not a hard worker. You know what I mean? It's weird to me that this is something he doesn't do. Like the weather's good in Baltimore this time of year. It isn't have to worry that it's gonna be under 60. He's gonna get the flu. Like I don't understand, I know he loves being in Florida, but it seems weird for a guy who is a great teammate, a great leader, a great player and a hard worker who has improved, you know, throughout his career that he doesn't think this is important. Yeah, I don't know, maybe it was a hard buy issue. Just floated out, like. But except Justin Mingson doesn't seem like he thinks he's gonna be there. Right. I would think he has the attitude that you kind of said, like, if you want me to be there, make it mandatory. I mean, and I'm not saying that's right. I said I hope he goes. I think that it's very fair. But I think it's like, it's an optional thing. I don't have to go. It's not like our team dinners that you skip. But I do feel bad about that. About skipping our team dinners? Yeah, when I miss a dinner, I'm like, you know what? I'm not being paid to do this, but as a leader, I should be there. But Lamar, I don't go to a meeting. Show me a contract after the dinner. Moving on, Brown's owner, Jimmy Haslam, weighing in on their InFox QB position, three QBs currently on the roster at Shaddur Sanders, Dylan Gabriel and Vichon Watson, who the Browns are paying $46 million to this year. So yeah, he might start. Here's Haslam. D'Shawn has a great chance, fresh start, offensive minded coach who has in his past been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful. So D'Shawn has a great chance to do that now. Let's see what D'Shawn can do. We're all excited, your reaction. Give him a shot. And you guys know how I feel about Shaddur. But I've paid this man all of this money. Yeah. I'm still paying him. This is last year of his deal. He was at one time a tremendous quarterback. He's 30 years old. I'm the Browns. It's been bad here for decades. We actually do have a really good defense. We actually do have some good running backs. Receivers, we need a little help, but maybe you can drive. Like if he could become even close to what he used to be, then we might actually be able to have a decent season. Now, to me, the only downside I see of giving him a shot is, and this is, you'd sign up for this type of problem. If he really plays well, and then it's like, do we extend this guy? Do we want to get him in bed with him? He might not play well. But I'm just saying, I would give him a shot. Look, and I abhor what he's accused of doing and all that. You're talking about just the quarterback. Yeah, but I'm saying this, like, I think it's very possible and even likely that what he was accused, you know, the whole scandal really screwed him up mentally. He was a guy with a pristine reputation, right? He wasn't just your average, okay, he's fine. He had a great reputation as a person. And now that is all gone, you know, away, you're now, you're the opposite. That may have messed with him. And I think he has probably been able to move past that. It seems like people, again, we abhor what he, what he's accused of doing. But you know, it's been a while, people have probably moved on to Haslams, clearly. Give him a shot. And maybe he'll play better. Maybe he's in a better mental space and he can actually go out there and perform. So look, maybe if Shadour beats the mountain training camp, so be it. But I would just let it be a competition and see who wins. All right, I have a couple of very quick thoughts. First one is, and I say this as respectfully as I can, Jimmy Haslam is a menace that just causes chaos on teams in which he has influence and ownership. We didn't talk about it on the show, but that Bucks article that came out a couple of weeks ago, if you actually, there's a very long article about the Milwaukee Bucks and about Yanis. And you know, his name is all throughout it and where it really started to go awry with the plan. Once Jimmy Haslam got the other owner out, bought in, it's a Jimmy Haslam operation. Jimmy Haslam said this on, that quote we ran, he said it on March 31st yesterday. Here's what he said on March 31st a year ago yesterday. Literally a year. A year to the day. We took a big swing and miss with Deshawn. We thought we had the quarterback. We didn't, gave a lot of draft picks. So we gotta dig ourselves out of that hole. Year later, zero games, ladies, like you know what? Maybe the way to dig ourselves out of that hole is to keep digging because here is the deal. And this is where Brew and I, I think just fundamentally disagree about his potential. Deshawn Watson in the last five years, here are his ranks among NFL quarterbacks who have started as many games as him. 47 quarterbacks who started 19 games. He's basically the second or third worst in everything. Except for touchdown turnover where he's only the eighth worst. He's somewhere from 39th to 46th. So I'm just asking. Oh he's been horrible. But yeah. There's no doubt. And so I, I don't think he has a great chance to be the starter. I don't think he's a good player anymore. I don't think all of a sudden he is going to be the answer. And I think that the Cleveland Browns, not recognizing what the sunk cost fallacy is, has cost them multiple seasons. And if they, if they asked Todd Monkin to flirt with this, in my opinion, insane idea that maybe Deshawn will be good, it'll cost them this season as well. I just think. But I'm just at, so you wouldn't, I get that he might not be good. If he goes to training camp, he's that same quarterback with those statistics, fine. But what if he looks good? Like you wouldn't even give him a shot though. No, I would have. I would have taken my salary cap medicine and sent him home. Is what I would have done. Like we've seen around the league. I just don't think that they can officially, I turn the page on the single worst transaction in the history of the NFL while saying, but maybe we can salvage it this year. That's just what I thought. I also think it hurts Shaddour's development. Well, look, Shaddour can be at his best. It's competition. I'd rather he compete with a kid they dropped this year or Kurt Cousins than Deshawn Watson. Otani headlines weird and wonderful pitches and hits and some more lowlights from our soccer weekend. Wasn't it? That's next. First thing's first right here on that best one. Oh, and a goalie plate. Turn our attention a little bit more serious topic. Tiger Woods announced that he's stepping away from golf after flipping his car and being arrested for DUI. Reports are that two hydrocodone pills were found in his pocket. Tiger released a statement that acknowledged, quote, the seriousness of the situation and added that stepping away to seek treatment is quote necessary in order for me to prioritize my wellbeing and work towards lasting recovery. We had hoped that it was gonna play the maskers. That's gone now. Your reaction. For people that don't know, Tiger is my third favorite athlete ever. One of my three favorite athletes ever. And I know this isn't a golf story, but I do just want to. I think for young people, it's been so long now, it warrants mentioning the dominant player he was. There was a stretch of 11 majors early in his career that he won seven of them. Then he remade his swing and there was a stretch of 14 majors where he won six of them and came in second four other times. And that streak ended with him winning an 18-hole playoff on a broken leg. And then he obviously had the scandal with his wife and he then had the one last moment of real glory, the 2019 Masters, which to this day, every time I go on YouTube, it's one of my top suggested things, watch the full six hours, because I've watched it so many times in pieces. I shouldn't say despite. So that's Tiger Woods, who at two years old was on the Ed Sullivan Show saying it was going to be the greatest goal forever. My dad's making me to be this and did it. And despite all of that, he is the foremost lesson for everyone out there that you can't achieve your way out of your demons or your addictions. There is no, if I just accomplish this, whatever pain, whatever issues, whatever stuff I'm dealing with, is fixed. Because Tiger Woods, the other part of his story is in 2017, he got a DUI, fell asleep at the wheel. In 2021, he flipped his truck. In 2026, he flipped his truck again. And I think it's probably fair to say, if he's had two wrecks and one time he fell asleep at the wheel are the ones we know about. The guy appears to have a terrible, terrible pain killer addiction. And it's devastating as someone who, like so many of my core sports memories, are Tiger Woods wearing red, seeming invincible. And I hate it so much, man. I hate it. Yeah, I would agree. It seems like, look, he mentioned to the officers, and you mentioned the first of the DUIs. The last two where he flipped the cars, he didn't, it was registered zero on the front line. I don't think he's drinking. So he's not drinking. But he mentioned to the officers that he had seven back surgeries and more than 20 surgeries on his right leg. He's probably in immense pain. And I'm not making an excuse. But his addiction to pain killers is probably like, I got to take these to not being pain all day. And so you hope that he can just get some type of physical rehab that helps him in that regard. I also wonder, mentally, you mentioned two years old on the, you said the Ed Sullivan show. I think it was the Ed Sullivan show. I don't even know, was that around when you? No, whatever. But whatever, he was on something. He was on a show, putting, I've seen the video hundreds of times. His entire life, he was raised to be this golf superstar, and he obviously became that. When that's no longer there, like, what is his identity? Not only his identity because he became so great, but from two years old. That was his identity. And so now that that's gone in addition to the scandal with his wife and the DUIs and the recs and just all of this, where is his mental state? So I think hopefully he can get some physical rehabilitation that maybe he can at least deal with the pain. And then if he needs the mental rehabilitation too, because it's got to be, you know, taxing on him mentally, like, who am I because of this? The master's release, the statement saying, you know, they fully support Tiger, won't be joining us in person, but his presence will be felt here in Augusta. Do you think we ever see him play the masters again? It's incomprehensible that we don't. We thought we were going to see him in a couple of weeks. There is, it's not only, sometimes we say, this is a better podcast topic because you need a long time. This is a better book topic, to be totally honest. There is something very, it's almost an allegory for a lot of the ails of America the last half century, which is Tiger Woods to Bruce Point was prescribed painkillers by doctors for real medical reasons. And it would, and this is again speculation by me, but it would appear like they did for millions of people, grabbed ahold of him in a way that he hasn't been able to jostle free of. You then add to it, he was living one life publicly, another life privately, and was flying through the world on this invincibility jet that he and his father had created. And man, oh man, it just seems like once that got pierced, and it turned out, oh, like everybody else, he's human. And flawed and has issues and real things, the house just kept crumbling down. And you see him pop up and he has a fun YouTube video a few years ago with the barstool guy's golfing. And you see him do these, you see him with the TGL thing, you're like, oh, could we get Tiger back? But even when you see him in those things, he looks a little funny, he looks a little shaky. And it's just, I don't know, like I'm rambling, I don't mean to. I love this athlete. Never met him, never talked to him, I probably never will. And it just feels like he has a sad life right now. And that sucks so much. More first things first after the break. My mind was active. Drew was looking at his phone, he said, this can't be true. And we're like, oh, but it was. But it was just a spurs off the sports step. I got an amazing road winning streak. That's it. Second hour, first things first today, Luca and SGA respond to Wemby. Or did they? We discuss, meanwhile, Kobe Jones joins us for World Cup Wednesday. We break down our two friendly losses. But right now, oh, we're headed to the hardwood, which had caught up to speed and what's been going on last night while operating a Whitney Houston-themed slot machine in the Bahamas. That's great. An elite committee of experts, analysts, and people who love jelly beans. What? You love jelly beans? Who told you that? Who did he talk to? Look at me, I knew you did. Oh, thanks, buddy. Oh, I am ashamed. That's why. That's why. Be careful. Thank you, guys. He's been funnier. He thought it was going to go. Thanks, buddy. Guys, you know what song was that? Messing around. What? I'm asking. I know what song was playing on that Whitney Houston. They played it all over greatest hits. Yeah, when you hit a jackpot. Somebody just, over and over and over again. No, I wouldn't dance to this song. But no, it wasn't just that. It was multiple. I also took some pictures with some people, and I was like, hold on. I got to finish. Just crushing the nationally at them. Yeah. I'm going to say, boy, you got a lot to do. All right. Fought in toilets for in the midnight oil. To deliver the best segment in all sports, it's an honor and a privilege. It's time for tears, NBA style. Yeah. All right. First, we show the eliminated tears, which also could be called the tankers. Tom Havarstrow had an unbelievable stat, as of a couple of days ago. The last 179 games, these 10 teams played against the 20 teams on the tears. These 10 teams are 12 and 167. What'd it take in the under? I mean, unbelievable. Now to the teams, the 20 teams in the league that are still trying. Could they beat the Thunder if you combined all 14? If you put them all together. So you have Bam Paolo, Steph coming off an injury. Avdea, you know what? I don't think so. No. I don't think so. No. Internote? It's an interesting thought. They have a lot of names. Yeah, I don't think so. Spoh, who coaches? Spoh or Curve? Can we be done to KW? No. Why? A few tough losses. KW. Just beat the Nets last night. We didn't even go. Just beat the Nets. Well. KW. No. No, not at all. I'm with KW on this. It's a little bit. It's a little dangerous. We're young. It's inconsistent. Are you fully confident they are actually even going to be in the playoffs? No, of course not. OK. But if they get in, you don't want to see them. Killing time. And here's what I mean. Sun's Clippers are going to play each other in the 7-8 play-in. And until then, these two teams are just kind of, they're not going to climb to the 6. I don't think either one of them is going to fall behind Portland to the 9. So we're going to get this match up. The winner is going to play the Spurs. The loser is going to play the Thunder, unless something crazy happens to the top of the bracket. Killing time until then. Fight for the 6. Now, the 6 is what Drake and others call Toronto. And this is the Toronto Raptors. But I'm really somewhat the 6th seed. I just like to extract. Oh, that was like a 76ers thing. Oh, good. That could have been good too. I didn't think about that. No, the 6 seed in the East might be valuable real estate. One, you avoid the play-in. Two, you probably get the all of a sudden limping Knicks in round one. A Knicks 6ers round one with, again, potentially healthy in bead. Yeah, that would be a hell of a series. And the Raptors, people are mad at me. I got some strays over the weekend. They're like, Scotty Barnes not on your pyramid? I'm like, jeez, Louise, I know you had a big game. Sorry. Truly hilarious potential. This right now would be the 4-5. The Cavs were the preseason win total we showed it earlier. I think it was 56 and 1 half. They were the favorites in the East or co-favorites along with the Knicks. They then tried to improve their team by trading for James Harden, whatever. The Hawks, on the other hand, were like, all right, time. We're going to move on from Trey. We're going to do things to kind of reboot, be excited about this New Orleans pick. The Hawks could beat the Cavs in the first round of the playoffs. They could. They have fought all the way up. This could be our 4-5. And in that series, I might pick the Hawks, which would be a catastrophe for the Cavs, obviously, and way out of schedule for the Hawks. Different weeks, same seasons. So the Knicks, since the last time we did the tiers, haven't won. The Rockets, since the last time we did the tiers, haven't lost. They're both on three-game winning or losing streaks. But so the weeks are very different. But the season's very similar in that such high hopes going into the year, and now as we're a couple weeks from the playoffs, it feels like even with the Rockets winning streak, nobody really believes in either of these teams. And I know they just played each other. And the Rockets are like, hey, what more do you want from us? I get it. I don't trust really anything about the Rockets right now. And I don't know what's going on. I don't know why the Knicks aren't better. They haven't suffered some major injury. Maybe they really miss tibs. Maybe the glass quarter full ideas. Well, under tibs, we kind of overcheat regular season under season. I don't even know if they under-achieve in the playoffs. But maybe we'll flip that script. But it's been disappointing. Long season. Would you agree you believe in the Knicks more than the Rockets? I give the Rockets absolutely zero chance of doing anything. Yes, but I guess. Yes, Brew, but I don't know if the Knicks, if there were no conferences, if the Knicks Rockets played in the playoff series, I don't know. No, the best would be it. A lot of that is because of the conference, as opposed to the overall quality of the teams. But yes, I agree. Might show up in May. And by show up, I don't mean like play hard. I mean, late May is probably what we should have written, though. That's my mistake. That's not on Marshall. These teams could make the conference finals. The Pistons are right now would be a favorite for me to make the conference finals. And the Timberwolves, if Ant comes back healthy, they can't be dismissed. With the continuity that they have, what they've done the last couple years in the playoffs. They're kind of flying. The Pistons weren't flying under the radar, but Cade got hurt and we just stopped really, or with the punctured lung. And they play well. Exactly right. And that's the silver lining for Detroit is, did they find, did they stumble into offense without Cade? You know what I mean? So come to playoffs, they can score when he's on the bench. But now we get to the five real contenders in the league, in my opinion. And this tier is the race for their second. And here's what I mean. Nobody in this generation, because we keep having new titles, has gotten to ring number two. But Tatum could and Yolkich could. And that would, you know, I'd take him and Brown, I should say, but the, it would be a unique distinction because, you know, everybody, I shouldn't say everybody. A lot of guys have the one at this point. Giannis has one, Joker has one. Obviously Tatum and, we'll get to SGA in a minute, have one. They're racing for their second. Meanwhile, the two teams ahead of them, their best players, are racing for their first. And that is the Lakers and Luca and Wimby and the Spurs. And I think right now, again, the conference part alignment and the fact that Tatum's only going to get better, I think come late May, the Celtics are going to be the most formidable team in the league. That's why I picked him in the title. Right now, this moment, I think the Lakers and the Spurs are better than them. And I think that the, the Spurs ability, and we might talk about this in a bit, they have the number two offense in the league this season and the number two offense this season in the games Wimby didn't play. Like they can score no matter what. And obviously when Wimby is playing, they might have the best defense in basketball and had he played the whole year, I think they would have the best defense in basketball. And the Lakers, it took them not that long, but a bit, but they have found the formula. And LeBron, I think Bru made the point earlier. LeBron playing this role willingly, while to my eye, heading into this playoffs with more bounce than he's had since the damn pandemic year is, makes them really interesting. And the fact that Austin hasn't even played his best ball as of late. They're still winning these games. And then atop the tears, Hollywood Hogan. So folks that weren't a fan of wrestling or the WCW, when Hulk Hogan left the WWF and went to the WCW, became a villain. During the NWO was the champion. Everybody knew he's Hulk Hogan. He's an all time great. And everyone hated him and nobody liked him. Ever I thought that leg drop was never that cool actually, anyway. And the thunder, this triple threat of Shay gets all the calls, Andy can push off, and Dort can, much like Hollywood Hogan, tackle you. It's, Mike Brown has reached his breaking point. JB Bickerstaff came close to his breaking point. And I think the fans across America are like, wait, Shay Maiden, how many shots did he make in his 47 point game? Oh, he shot 25 free throws. They're the best. They are probably the rightful favorites. I don't know how many folks are loving watching them outside of. That's the latest Tearsboro. Not bad. I am going to switch though the rivals, Boston and the Lakers. And actually as I switch them, I'm going to move the Spurs over to the left side in Boston. Because it's just, I know it's not left to right, but I feel like it feels better. Right. With the Spurs there. First of all, look, LA is playing great. They are a legit contender. But I think a team like Boston, like Boston's, I think they'd have a ton of trouble stopping Boston because of, you got the two very great one-on-one players in Jalen and Jason. And then you've got a bunch of shooters, you know, so I think with those two being able to either take it one-on-one, beat you to the cup and kick it out, either score or kick it out for three, I just think that would be tough for the Lakers because they don't have a ton of athleticism. So I think Boston, I would put above the Lakers. But also because Jason Tatum is starting to round in the form. His last two games, he sat out, was it last night or two nights ago when they lost to Atlanta, he sat out. But his last two games, good victories over your Charlotte Hornets. And one of them without Jalen Brown. Yeah, yeah. Right. And then Atlanta. And his average 29.8 and a half boards, six and a half assists. And his last game against Charlotte was the first game this season. He shot 50% or above. Now this little thing here, this is, this is. Nick's Lakers bias is self-ticking. Yeah, self-ticking. I did, no, that's Dusty. I mean. Yeah, and you wouldn't call it a box. I actually, I like the Lakers too. But you know, hey, let Dusty have his fun. But anyway, the other thing, Jason Tatum's Easter Conference player of the week. So he is starting to round into form. They beat O.K.C. right. So they are playing some good basketball. And so I was just switched. And they are there. I think they're going to win the title. I also think that what I, what I expect we're going to see and what I don't think we have seen quite yet is the game. And this was probably a month from this. The game where Tatum and Brown both really cook. You know what I mean? And that's when it's going to feel, you know, scary for everybody because they are so deep and they are so low coached. I see a question about the Lakers defense. Yeah. Because you've been a Rob Palinka skeptic. Yeah. Didn't like the moves that they made around the edges, et cetera. Do you think their defensive renaissance is real? I, well, how much of it is just there's some stats there that say that's a little bit of no maker mislead. So I, here's what I think is definitively real. I think putting Marcus Smart in the lineup when he was healthy, obviously he's been hurt, was massive for them. I think that's the biggest piece. I think the second biggest piece is, and folks might disagree with me, I believe LeBron, James with energy and attention on defense where it is still not only not a bad defensive player, but a good defensive player. I don't think he's not a great defensive player like he once was, but playing this role on offense has given him more on that on defense. And Bruce point on Yoke itch a lot, which is the defensive rebounding is a piece of it. Also applies to Luca and to a more locked in Deandre. So all of a sudden, like the Lakers when they're, whether it's Aiton or Rui in there, because of Luca LeBron plus one of them, they're big. Marcus Smart is giving them a fighting chance against the point of attack. And so yeah, I don't think they're the sixth best defensive basketball, but can they be the 12th best? I gotta give Reddit credit. He's come up with a lot of nice games defensively. Since the, from the athletic system. Ronnie's been good in his little minutes for real. All-star game, they're defending the three or opponents are making 32% of the threes. It's the best. Yeah, some of the points. I'm like, I was just not following. Is that just an odd month? I'm getting back on the Denver Nuggets bandwagon. Not totally, but I'm hopping on seeing if my seat is still there. Might hop off. Might hop over to the Thunder Bandwagon, but I'm trying it back on. For one reason, offense. And this is not, this is why I'm having a hard time. Because I'm not really an offense wins championships guy. That being said, they're better offensively than they were when they won the championship. So that's pretty good. Also never a bad idea to go with, I don't know, the best player in the world. I also like that. The issue is the defense. Yeah. But Nuggets defensive rating. Now that Aaron Gordon is back on court would rank fourth when he's off court. These count the game, all the games that he missed, right, Josh? So would be 22nd. So have we been seeing just a artificial Denver defense? No. And now that Aaron Gordon's back like, oh, he, he, he helps. He's their best defensive player in Peyton Watson. He's back to, yes. Exactly. Second best defensive player. So I do think, but I don't think that, that fourth is. No, but there are, there's some stats that say they're the worst offensive. They're, they're, they don't block shots. They don't force turnovers. I don't like just when he's, is that on the court, off the court, even during the same game or games he plays? Yes. No, no, no, that's, but that's the thing. He's going to play 30 something minutes. Listen, I think Denver is, they're live. And Denver gave OKC all they could handle in the second round last year. That right now is what I think we're going to get in the second round this year. I think the second round of the playoffs, we're going to have at least two and maybe three. If we get OKC, Denver, Inspector Minnesota, Lakers, Spurs, and if the Knicks can get their act together, Celtics, Knicks, the all outstanding. Oh, yeah. The playoffs going to be phenomenal this year. Well, the first round in the West will be great. Yeah. It's going to be great. Can SGA and Luca take a shot at Wemby? Not Luca. I got an answer point. Luca's wildly polite when he's not on the court. That's true. He is. It's Appleton, Wisconsin native, Esmer Barak-Tarvich. The Milwaukee Messi. The New England Revolution homegrown player turned 21 two and a half weeks ago. Can Senboszi and Herzegovina to the World Cup. And he does. It got underneath Donoruma. The Italian course continues. Italy out via the Milwaukee Messi. I just, listen, I'm Italian. I, one of my first World Cup memories ever was the Italy Brazil final in 94. What has happened to Italy in the last 20 years in this tournament is incomprehensible. Just very, very quick Italian soccer history lesson. There were 10 World Cups brewed from 1970 to 2006. In those 10, Italy made the semifinals six times. Four of those six, they made the final and they won it twice. In addition to winning their first two World Cups ever back in the 30s. Only Brazil has more World Cups than Italy. In the five World Cups since then, they have won a total of one game in the group stage. Twice failed to make it out of the group stage. And now three World Cups in a row didn't qualify. Not great. They expanded the field from 32 to 48. No confederation benefited from that more than Europe. Italy's in Europe. They still can't get it. It's a tragedy. We still have baseball. Italy, I can't. What a flash. My goodness. It would honestly have been similar to as if after, if instead of us having the redeem team after we finished third at the Olympics or whatever it was, we just started missing the Olympics. They just can't even qualify. They just don't even qualify. Look, four years, four more years. Wow. And in the midst of this, they won the Euros. I don't get it. I don't get it. Roberto Bajer is not walking through that door. As another great Italian, Rick Patino would say. He also missed the loss because he missed the kick though too. So even that's true. Francesco Totti is not walking through that door. They played pretty tough. Last week. Totti laid out a three-pronged case for why he should be the MVP. And then one of his teammates like, and here's why I should be sixth man. These spurs are getting to me. I thought I was gonna. Young and prickle. Luca and SJ were recently asked if they'd like to lay out their case. Drew, here were their responses. I mean, I never did that. So I'm not gonna, I'm not the one voting. So, you know, but I think I've been playing pretty good. We've been winning. So that's it. That's all I gotta say. No, I'm good. Thanks for asking though. But yeah, I'm good. I'll let my game do the talking. What like that though? Drew, you reacted. I get it from SJ. He's cool, you know, cool personality. He's got his MVP. He's got his championship. I get it. Luca. Luca, you blew it. Here's the deal, guys. It's worked. What Wimby said has worked without question. Now, I was on him before, right? I had him second, still do. But the odds, Nick, you know this, he went from third to second. And yeah, closer to second or closer to first than he was. And Sean Powell, my love Sean Powell, writer for NBA.com, he went on Sean's list, the latter, on NBA.com. He went from third to first. Just after what he said. Luca, here's Luca and you were being polite. I get it, but you missed an opportunity. That's what he should have said. Look, I'm no Wimby defensively, you know, I mean. But I lead our team in defensive block, box score plus minus. Yeah, what? I lead the Lakers who are one of the top defensive teams in the league now. Yeah. Or, you know, have been for months. In defensive win shares. In defensive win shares. I have the best defensive rating on our team. So again, I'm not Wimby, but I wouldn't say I'm not playing even. I would say I'm better offensively, but I would say I'm having one of my better seasons defensively. I'm trying and we're starting to play good defense. So that's all I'm saying. Probably would have shot to number one. Yeah, maybe throw in there. I've played 500 more minutes, which at Wimby's 29 minutes a game is the equivalent of 16 more games. That the Wimby minutes stuff is a great reason to believe they can win the title, because it's like he'll play more minutes there. It's a great reason to believe he's only scratching the surface of his statistical potential. It's a great reason to believe Nick, you're an idiot for saying you want to see him to average 30. He obviously will once he's playing more minutes. All those things. It's not a good MVP argument. It is in my opinion. It could be a negative. It could work, but it could definitely be a negative. The lack of playing should not in my opinion help your most valuable player case. I will also make a case for Luca that nobody that I haven't heard anybody make. Last eight years, so player of the month has been the single biggest indicator of who's going to win MVP. In the last eight years, the MVP has led the league or tied for the league lead in player of the month awards. There's only five awards given out every single time except for one guy who led the league in player of the month awards and didn't win MVP. Luca, two years ago when Brew and three other people voted for MVP and everyone else like, I forget that guy, 33 points a game. I like you could take the maps to the finals and then he did. If we show Luca's March stats, I'm throwing you off a bit. I think it's a fair guess that Luca has a very good chance of winning another player of the month award, which would put him at two. Joker has one, Shea has one, Wimby has one, Luca already has one and this is what he just did in March. They went 14 and two, it's a bunch of games for a month by the way, 38 a night, eight rebounds, seven assists and he missed one. I'm going to see how he got suspended on crazy efficiency in 37 minutes per game. The other thing that I would happen to say if again, if I were making, I'm glad Luca didn't do this. I'm glad Luca didn't say like, I'm going to go after Wimby, like Wimby went after Shea. What also is true is this and this would be a terrible teammate thing to say. When I don't play, my team dies and when he doesn't play, his team dies on defense and is the exact same on offense. This year, in 15 games, Wimby hasn't played. The Spurs not only are 10 and 5, those 15 games, their offensive rating would rank second in the league. Now their defensive rating, which is top, you know, is great with them, falls off a cliff. So the Lakers on the other hand, in the, they were six and six without Luca until they play, who's it? The Wizards? The game that he missed? They go from an elite offense to middle of the pack and Luca. There's the worst offensive player anyone's ever seen. The games without him, their defense gets worse. And so I understand guys not making a case for themselves because historically that's been considered uncouth. But I think Luca has to advocate for himself because it nobody else, I shouldn't say nobody, very few other people are. And Wimby is in the opposite position where everybody seems to be, it's just different levels of... But to my point, it's almost since he said that. Now he was obviously in the discussion and on the ballot before, you know, the top five ballad before he said it. But since then his case has really taken off. He's had some statistical anomalies. He's been great. What I said before I text you, 18 consecutive blocks have been covered by the Spurs, nothing out of bounds, nothing to an opponent. He had like the third fastest double, double in eight minutes and change. Like there's some outlier anecdotal stuff. He also has, there is an awe factor for Wimby because of his size and grace. That he is unlike any player we've ever seen. That again, I don't know if that's supposed to be part of people's MVP's match. That's a big part of Jordan's love for Jordan. What I'm curious about when I see the Spurs have the second best offense in the league in games he doesn't play. Does that mean we're underrating Luke Cornette's role gravity? I don't know. Role gravity is a real thing. It's a real thing, bro, that we never heard of. I never heard of it, but I like it. In fact, I'm one of the greatest. Without Wimby, those three McDonald's All-American top five picks in their backcourt, I don't know if they'd be able to score. I just don't know. I just don't know. I just don't know. Luke should have made his case. He's still third or fourth, but he should have made his case. Welcome back to First Things First. Kobe Jones here to break down USA's two friendlies that turned ugly. We lost them both. Five-two to Belgium, two-nothing to Portugal. After the second loss, Christian Polisic remained optimistic. Take a listen. Obviously, we're disappointed with the results, but to be honest, I'm taking a lot of positives from it. I think we're a lot closer than it may seem, and a couple things aren't going our way. I still feel positive, and I have belief in the team. Kobe, thanks for joining us. Fresh from Atlanta, you're at the game. Are you buying Christian Polisic's optimism? Well, to be honest, hearing that statement, I think he seems more hopeful than positive with the team. Just looking at the results there, you can't be happy with the two results, regardless of who the opponent is, especially with the timing as you're leading into the World Cup. As one of the leaders of the team, he has to be positive. He's got to find the way to get this team moving in the right direction. Two losses, and you only got a couple of games left before the World Cup starts. You're kind of looking every way to bring that team together to be that one unit to get the results that you're going to need on June 12th. After the 5-2 loss to Belgium, how can you explain, or how would you explain, them coming out and playing as flat as they did against Portugal? A Portugal team that, by the way, was not even at full strength. Well, I would say to be fair, the U.S. was kind of like the same way, trying to figure out which players are going to be in there. I think that would probably lead into why you may have seen a little bit of flatness. Players trying to really figure each other out. Now, is that an issue? Yes. At this point, leading into the World Cup, you hope that you have an idea that Pochettino has an idea of exactly who he wants. I'm expecting that in the next game. Because I think we all learn, when you're going up against a team like Belgium or a team like Portugal, having a good start for the first 15-20 minutes, that's fantastic. But you cannot let down at all because they are so clinical, as we've seen throughout the years. Kobe, you mentioned the head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, for Team USA. After the second loss to Portugal, he said that we didn't have any top 100 players on our team. How did you read that as a slight to a politic or as a fact? How did you read that? I wouldn't say it's a slight to a politic. Specifically, I think it's just saying, when we look at the world of soccer, you don't have a lot of American players considered to be in that top 100. I would hope that he's not so negative with the team going into the World Cup. I think he knew what he was getting into, or he should have known of what he was getting into coming to coach the US team. And now it's about figuring out a way with the players that you do have, that do have that potential to be special players. No one can tell me that Policic can't be that special player. No one can tell me that Weston McKinney can't be that special player. That Balogun can't be that special player. They're continuing to get better and better. They've just got to find a way as a group to have the best group rather than the best individuals necessarily out on the field to get the result they need. Kobe, I want to show you Policic's scoring drought. This includes his club squad too. So August through December, he's on that tear, 10 goals, 3 assists and 19 games where they see Milan. And then January through March, 14 games, no goals, only one assist. Do you see something in his game? Is it something that we're tactically we're running or is it just bad luck? It's a slump. You know, it happens in every sport. You know, we talk about it in a variety of different ways. But you know, for me, it's about can Chris and Policic get ready at the right time. So I'm not too concerned about this. That's happening now until these next series of games that are upcoming. Can he be a little bit more precise? He even mentioned it. Can he be more sharper from a goal? But also on these games, it's all about the timing. You know, and I think Policic, you know, has those special capabilities. I'm not too concerned about that right now because as we kind of mentioned, to score goals, you have to have the right people. You have to be in the right positions he was being experimented with on the left, in the center. You know, I think they've got to just figure out his best position, where he can be the most dangerous, where I think he likes to come in off of that wing and cut inside and have a go. I think that's probably the best position for him. Kobe, with, you know, it's odd thing to say in a week where there were two losses by a combined score of 7-2. But I'm not sure if the worst thing that happened in the U.S. men's national team this week was on the pitch. I, Turkey, winning its mini tournament to get into our group, the U.S. benefited from being one of the host countries, probably, you know, got that pot one seeding, which our world ranking didn't necessarily earn us. But you take what you can get, and Paraguay and Australia being two of the other three teams in the group, it's a really good draw. Turkey, on the other hand, has an argument that they're now the best team in the group. How, you know, the, I don't know if deflating is the right word, but do you agree with me that there's an argument that at this moment, Turkey A could be the favorite in the group, even though we know multiple teams from the group will advance? Yeah, that's a fair argument, you know, without a doubt. I think that, you know, anyone that is really just a student of the game and you look at where the U.S. is right now, where there seems to be some struggles, you know, over the last few games, and you look at what Turkey A is doing and what they've done, they are battle tested through the qualifying process, you know, and that takes you to another level. They've gone through the, you know, winner go home over the last two games, you know, so there's just the constant pressure. So yes, you could say that they are in a better spot, you know, than the U.S. right now. Now, what does that mean, you know, when the World Cup comes around? I mean, for the U.S., that's going to be extremely, could be a tough situation, because that could be the game that you might need to get points, and that's going to be your third game in the group stage. So that's going to be one of the games to a hot within the World Cup for the U.S., for sure. Alright, Kobe, well, thank you very much for joining us on World Cup Wednesday. We'll see you all this summer. Hopefully we get some better results. Our next friendly, May 31st versus Senegal. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you soon. Alright, take care. Thank you, Kobe. Great. He made me feel better. Listen, I'm not...you beat Senegal and this week feels like it went away. And they are right now the favorites over Turkey. It's a rough six days. We lose to Senegal. Panic time in the USA. First things first, overtime. Welcome to First Things First, overtime. It's going to be a great show. There was an opus of an article dissing Jalen Hertz. I got radicalized after reading it. We discussed. And a real bonus for the people that watch, you know, F.S.1 all day, as we hope everyone does. K.W. announced when we talked about the show to lead the regulation, he's going to do better than we did that time. Yeah, like that's what he said. He's been broiling with anger as the show has gone on. It's just slowly...it's grown. Sour dough take. It's rising. Meanwhile, how far can Luca carry the Lakers? He caught a dunk as well, Dan. Did you see that? Yeah. He did. Best player in the world. Can dunk. Unbelievable. How often do you see the best player in the world dunk? Jokered, undunk a lot, buddy. Wimby. He does. Finally, coolest stats in all sports. Maybe the world. Is there just sports world? Wow. Why limit ourselves to sports? Yeah, I can't wait. It's a March Madness edition of Pac-Steps. Chris Bessard, Kevin Wilde, Nick Wright, Fresh from the Bahamas. I think you're appealing a little bit. I didn't notice that. Danny Parkins, who worked last week. Thank you, Danny. Yeah. Or this week. I worked Monday while you guys were on. I appreciate that. Holding it down. No problem. They want me to work on here. That's great. That's what I love. It's head to Philadelphia. Latest chapter in the saga, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles. Today, Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler dropped an article headline inside the Eagles 2025. Friction as Jalen Hurts stands at the crossroads. Danny, there was a lot to digest. I took a poll quote that said the Eagles offense was calcified and partly Jalen Hurts' fault. And Nick said, you shouldn't write. You shouldn't say that. I printed out 17 pages. You thought it was too solid. There was a lot of stuff in there. That's the one I liked. Of course, that's the one you liked. What was your number one take away from this article? It starts to condense it down to one thing. Thank you. My opinion on Jalen Hurts was middle of the road quarterback as a passer before the article. Middle of the road passing talent, elite leader and very clutch. Obviously nothing in that article changed on the clutch front. We've seen him perform in the Super Bowls. I found myself after reading the article downgrading slightly how I view him as a leader, but actually upgrading how I view him as a player. And the player parts may be a little confusing. I'll get to it in just a second. But like the leadership stuff maybe the Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant leadership style doesn't work for NFL quarterback. You're supposed to be more galvanizing and open to ideas and you have to be the rising tide to build up everybody. It's like the ultimate team game and you can't do that quiet, stoic, force of nature type thing. It also might not work for Jalen Duren in the NBA. That leadership style might mean you must be truly like in the conversation of an all time great for other alpha athletes to follow that. So it might be sported also might be where he is in the hierarchy of the sport. Yeah, so I thought there was just like enough things that made sense of quiet, not open to new concepts, standoffish with teammates, not a lot of great relationships with a lot of guys on the team that I was like, oh maybe I have the leadership piece of it wrong. But I've talked about the coordinator turnover that he's undergone and so Wilde's going to borrow your graphic from earlier. Well he just took it from you. First time you were ever on the show filling in. I've been doing this for years. It was Danny filling in. You didn't have a watermark. It is such a staggering amount of names. Like literally there are more play callers than years playing big time college football. There are more names on that list than the four years in college and the six seasons in the NFL. He's going on his 13th with Sean Mannion and we talk about, I know in Chicago right now a big talking point is year two of Ben Johnson. Just two years of continuity. We talk about it with Mahomes all the time. Like what a blessing it is for him professionally to have Andy the whole time. And he's had all those different head coaches to deal with. But like it is learning a new language. Players talk about that all the time in football. So maybe it is reasonable for a guy who has been Super Bowl MVP to be a little bit more hesitant to change and open to new concepts. When he's like, I mean you're going to be gone in 11 months and I'm going to be the guy who is here. So maybe the fact that he's gotten this far as a player with all of that turmoil, we actually underrate him as a football player. Look I agree with the point on the offensive coordinators and play callers. I mean that probably does have a lot to do with him. Like look I've been successful everywhere I've been. Even when they've downgraded me and benched me in Alabama. I go to Oklahoma and I do great. I make the job from Carson Wentz and I lead us to two Super Bowls. Win one. And here's a guy coming in and in a lot of cases not much experience not a better resume than Jaylin. This is what I do well. This is what I want to do. I get all that. My biggest takeaway Danny though was obviously there are people within that locker room and in the front office and on the coaching staff that felt the same way AJ Brown felt. And probably we're glad somebody was saying it. Maybe Sirianni's not going to say it to Jaylin. Petula's not going to say it to Jaylin. We're glad at least somebody is. And that leads me to wonder will the Eagles trade AJ Brown. Because he's obviously a great player and if they understand where he was coming from even if they might disagree with the way he did it they probably appreciate it and maybe we're hoping you know this will spark Jaylin to change a little bit. And so that makes me question whether or not they're going to trade AJ Brown. Here's my big takeaway from the article now that I've had an hour to digest it. Jaylin Hertz is not a perfect player. I don't know who is. And his imperfections might be different than everyone else's imperfections. And maybe they're more glaring and laid out in this article. He doesn't want to change. Okay. He doesn't want to go under center. Okay. So what? Here's what he can do. Win the Super Bowl. Here's a let's look at the NFC East. I've seen Dak Prescott who might be a better thrower of the ball. Okay. You fall apart in the playoffs. Jaylin Hertz doesn't. Jayden Daniels has more maybe talent. Arm talent is faster. Well Jayden Daniels wasn't available. And when they did play in the playoffs I think it was a close 40 something to 20 something. Oh it was a 55. My goodness. 55. Then we got the Giants who I guess Jaxon Dart I feel like it's insulting to even talk about Jaxon Dart comparing him to that. How about the major quarterbacks on the Mount Rushmore. Joe Burrow who's claimed to fame is throwing for a lot of yards. Jaylin Hertz always gets the playoffs. He also beat my Holmes once. Was that right? Yeah. Once in the playoffs. Yes. In the playoffs. Congratulations. Jaylin Hertz did that. In the Super Bowl. In one Super Bowl MVP. Josh Allen doesn't can't beat my Holmes in the playoffs. Jaylin Hertz can. Lamar shrinks in the playoffs. Jaylin Hertz is bigger. Okay. The guy's not perfect. So hold on. But he's pretty good. So hold on. So this is where I think you I think lose people on this. Yep. Go wide. Those guys you just listed at the end there. NFC East. I think you know what? I think you won that battle. I think people I think people might be more bullish on Jayden Daniels long term. But that's a very NFC East. But those last four guys you mentioned I guess you didn't mention Patrick. Do you think like you're right. None of them are perfect players. But do you think Jaylin Hertz's flaw is less less glaring more glaring are the same as those three guys. Do you think Jaylin Hertz is on Joe Burrow Patrick. I'm sorry Lamar Jackson Josh Allen's level as a quarterback or does he have something none of those guys have. But he is not as complete of a quarterback as those guys. He's not as complete as a quarterback. He's not. But his resume can go up against these guys and go you know trump card a lot of them. But he doesn't have you know beautiful tape of throwing the ball I guess to like down the middle of the field but I mean I think at this at this point by that metric I think so can Sam Donald's Super Bowl. Right. That's why I'm so they should be in the Super Bowl Champion Club. Five guys coming in and Aaron Rudd. And I which I think speaks to my biggest take away on this article was that it exists. That's my biggest take away because this article flatly cannot exist in any of those cities you mentioned. That you can't get 10 people with the Buffalo Bills to talk to some reporters and explain all the problems have thanks to Josh Allen. We saw one from Lamar. We see not 10 people but it was a hit job. Absolutely. And that ended with Lamar's coach being out. That's right. I think there's huge the Mahomes isn't going to happen. It's a different organization with different levels. And so the this article was pointed and intentional not I don't know if I'm going to talk about by the writers and then who's good by the writers but by the people talking to the writers and what it did was it right I think Sirianni comes in under maximum pressure already. It does ratchet the pressure up on jail and in that I think this was a warning shot if you will of Hey man Sean Manion is going to want to do a lot of these things. Kellen Moore got you pushed and pulled to do it somewhat. You're going to need to do it because unlike post more where you're coming off the halo of the great Super Bowl winning it you're coming off your worst year the teams worst year and what is real questions about how much of our struggles on the field and as a team are due to you and we are comfortable telling these writers from ESPN knowing you're going to be reading this we are confirming a story that we at previous times folks were denying the Fox Sports story about Brandon Graham and Big Dom my god Big Dom Big Dom shows up every year and guys will stick to character. And so like don't you agree like there is all of a sudden like it feels like his Super Bowl MVP grace period went very quick. Like very quick. And so like I said I'm going to tell you what happens if you look Manion needs to be comfortable telling Jalen because that was another part of the article when coaches have come in and kind of laid down the law this is how we're going to do it Jalen has responded to that but if you got yes men then he's going to do it his way so if I'm manion I'm like OK this is how we're doing it and I'm going to tell that to Jalen. Yeah and he doesn't have a ton of guaranteed money left on his deal when does crave consistency with coaching so I would be very interested in seeing Jalen hurtz with one Offensive Coordinator for three years and like that part in terms of fair to put the struggles on hurtz Nick Siriani supposed to be an Offensive coach I don't we don't when there's but I'm just saying like that amount of turn over of play caller Offensive mind different we need motions we need back to put your back to the defense we need to under center we need play action like the offensive head coach is supposed to offer stability for offensive foundational principles and that has not been he's clearly just a CEO type coach and what and it feels like this real CEOs big dump and so here and here would be my concern on that I know if you get to Peck Stets they're cool I could cool Stets I don't know that he'll ever have consistency at coordinator because fair or not I think we have proof of concept that the league is a whole views jail and hurts as somewhat limited and because of that when he's excellent they give the credit to the coordinator and that guy gets a job yeah and so and the Eagles view their team is awesome and the roster is awesome so when they're not excellent they fire the coordinator when they are excellent he gets another job how are we like the epic genius get a guy for three years well but but so here's the I don't know how you do it if it's like if if jail and hurts is awesome this year yeah man you know but you gotta figure it out need you somehow need for him to get stability they need to be like 12 and 5 with a divisional round loss and he has good passing numbers like that it 60 year old career off coordinator who can't be a head coach like a modern day north Turner yeah it's like I mean spags and spags and for the Chimps and D's not many of those guys on the off exactly Josh McThings and the England yes that correct it works that's a tough example though this works yeah we got a real treat for you and although it's April Fool's I am not joking around about this Danny has been on March madness all month all March honestly he I mean how are you doing on the on the sharpest I'm crushing it he did have Michigan I had three of the four final four teams crushing it with bets have Yukon futures alive and I think March is the best time to get involved in March madness you know what that's a great that's crazy because it's it's it's a good all right time now for pack sets a cool segment and damn you Nick all right cool is that number one yeah you know what else is cool what I'd you asked pyramids as in the pyramid of success John John Wooden Nick very good brew covered and Richard yeah it covered Dan Hurley has passed coach K and now only trails the great John Wooden for the best NCAA tournament win percentage of all time this is wild with a sample of at least 20 games obviously they are for no to get to this point before this tournament he was behind coach K now he is in front of him he's got a shot to be the first coach since John Wooden to win three titles in four years John Wooden Dan Hurley coach K unlike some of these graphics that we put up where it's like guy who's quite good right now actually is you know one of the greatest of all time yeah this one I buy I think the I think Dan even if his style at sometimes to me brew is grating you think I mean this is sometimes that's an all-time we thought he was gonna get a chest bump he I mean KW this is your team but his thank you cheated on him but it is on Duke from us um his resume is unimpeachable there's just no like yeah yeah but it just doesn't exist he's a phenomenal coach look if he wins three and four years in this era where your best players play one year yes if I cast him yeah your best players play one year or even if they're not that good they transfer and the other school like that would be a I don't necessarily see them winning this but hey you got to give him a shot at this point and so that would be an incredible achieve do we have an early take on Illinois versus Yukon Danny I think Illinois is the better team but I saw Yukon blow out Illinois at the Garden this year it was way back in November Illinois was you know a bunch of new guys and you know older players but trying to figure it out together but hurly in the tournament it's tough to bet against them tough to bet against him I'm not willing to I'm not we're not making our picks right now you know I'm from Connecticut I was rooting for Chris Smith in 1988 so that being said Illinois very tall very tall you guys know what else is cool what thanks for asking tables for two dates romance romantic little table for two table for two Arizona can be an all-time champion if they win two more games 38 or more wins and a title D1 history I mean this is one of if not the most dominant title teams of my lifetime watching college basketball Anthony Davis's Kentucky team Arizona can get to 38 wins and a title if they fit finish the job and the teams that immediately come to mind as the best single-season college basketball teams the unlike Arizona they all had whether he turned into a great pro or not like an iconic college player yes and I no disrespect Arizona I it doesn't feel like they have that and so but they've been the best team and then I know Michigan's your pick and Michigan's the favorite I thought Arizona's been the best team and they had the best resume of any team in the nation all year long and I mean they're obviously you know lot super live to win the whole thing so I don't know do you think they are would be one of the greatest teams ever their statistical profile would say that they are both with their win like the win-loss record the point differential the advanced rating like I don't know why they wouldn't be other than not having their achievement would be but no they're not they're not I mean it's just a different let's just keep it real it's just a different era none of these teams oh you I think everybody agrees with that yeah yeah like compare it but the achievement they would be right up there but I don't know if you have a Michigan stat coming up I don't want to do what have it well for the game okay but Jaylin was talking about this Michigan team being well they think they're the best you know but Jaylin was raised like hey if they win it no that the achieves cool hold on I mean bonus what's cool bonus with setting up your partner that was what I was gonna say no no no Goliath V Goliath oh we go David V Goliath Arizona Michigan arguably greatest final four matchup Ken Palm made the show Ken Palm made the show I don't care if everyone doesn't know what it is any college basketball fan knows about Ken Palm's ratings it is these are the two highest rated Ken Palm teams to ever meet in the final four it's never happened before and we can go deeper into it Michigan the number one point differential team in the country this year Arizona the third point differential team in the country third most wins ever to meet in a final four it is this game to me feels like what you and I said Nick about the NFC championship game last year that is the title that it's the title it's very hard for me to see the Illinois Yukon winner beating the Michigan Arizona winner other than well it's we say that sure and it but what turns out whoever wins this game four point favorite in the final I'd say a little more but yeah yeah I I do think these are the two best teams remaining not just because they're the two one seems like that's an easy take I also tell you this much even if Illinois is better than Yukon I think because this is the this is the late game yes this is like it I think both coaches who are the people involved for these two teams that are watching Illinois Yukon I think they're rooting for Illinois I don't think they don't want to see I don't think you want Yukon after that comeback and then they win the game and I just think even if Illinois is better I don't think you want to play Yukon for the title Yukon hasn't played a dominant game start well start to finish these last no and they finished the same John's game was trying to get an annihilation yeah right they can't they haven't been shooting well but Terris Reed has been dominant he's really they got hot from three in Indianapolis we're waiting for that's the little ball to break out caravan had one good game caravan and one of you and Mullins has been terrible all March shooting the three if that shot unlocked him because he's an NBA prospect he's their best shooter I think it will if he gets hot he's from Indiana Final Four is in Indianapolis and I'm happy for you Danny that you got that for you Danny's nephew goes to Yukon he was I didn't know him yeah doing it unlike Wilds who was there you know like go Duke go you go I would never said go Duke but I had been on Duke for months every time Yukon plays at the garden me and my nephew go once in three games this year yeah wonderful well that's another addition of Pac stats cool segment in all sports thanks coming up next how far can Luca carry the Lakers well I mean Danny's guy they just annihilated Danny's pick to play in the finals that was bad the college basketball crown is back a premiere postseason tournament featuring major conference teams the crown quarter finals tip off tonight it's Oklahoma Colorado Baylor Minnesota you catch it all right here on F s1 real cool concept and I can't get enough college basketball this time of year okay you know squeeze it in and they're playing for NIL money it's in Vegas good vibe around the crown who doesn't like a big bag of money I like it and remember Nebraska ships this last year right and then there are four seed this year well watch out for two week Francis out of Rutgers I follow them a little bit this year's as in 16 points big-time score out of Pittsburgh I'm be looking forward to seeing lighted up in this tournament okay crown height yeah from Willie Cologne I like it check out all the games here on FS1 now to the NBA the Lakers stayed hot 42 from Luca will do that right scored 600 points in the month of March that's a bit above average head coach JJ Redick was asked about Luca's dominance and his month take a listen Luca has had a as good of a month as anybody I think that I can remember in modern NBA at least since I've been part of it you know certainly LeBron has had those hardened has had those Steph has had those but he just played phenomenally this month all right Willie how I have been a skeptic yeah but now this thing just keeps going and going and going how far do you believe Luca can carry this version of the Lakers at least to the Western Conference finals I really believe so you also got to understand like they've beaten some prominent teams does for you talking about the rockets the nuggets they beat the pistons and obviously had the big win against the Cavs where Luca dropped 42 but you also got what's significant about that game is early in the season the Cavs beat the Lakers by 31 points right and so what you're starting to see is this team really come together and that's not talked about and I think what's great about the Lakers right now and if you're a Lakers fan you have to be excited about is that even though Luke can drop 40 plus they're not dependent on him dropping 40 plus right because they have the A who's playing better on both ends of the court you have LeBron who's showing up he had 14 you have Rory he had 14 Austin Reeves have been up and down but he's been steady as of late nevertheless man they're coming together as a team when if you look at the Lakers prior to this month or maybe early in the season you like man I don't know who they are where they stand they look like a legit outfit that can make a run so Luca right now is scary and he's putting up some big-time numbers so it's three straight 40 plus point games right he he is one of if not the best offensive players in basketball he's a short list it's him it's Joker it's Shay end of list right like that that is your list and he is playing at the peak of his offensive powers and so I was thinking about like a couple years ago when we saw Luca drag that Mavericks team to to the finals it was like kind of an out of nowhere situation like Kyrie Daniel Gafford PJ Washington lively Derek Jones Jr. Josh Green like those were the guys who played the most minutes alongside Luca for that Mavs team that got to the finals as a five-seat is that that different than LeBron Reeves Aten smart Rui and canard like would you say that Mavericks team they're they were more athletic they were maybe a little bit better like defensively with rebounds although the Lakers have been really good defensively for the last month I just I have to at least be open to the possibility that Luca can carry a supporting cast that is flawed to the finals because I have seen Luca carry a supporting cast that is but that goes back to what I just said D.P. they they he doesn't have to right even though he's capable of to your point of what you're saying the fact that you can have when a game with LeBron scoring 14 points really scoring 14 and him giving you 40 and on another night LeBron he give you a triple double and give you 30 and you're still able to win games against the Lakers scoring 30 every game yeah I have a step right he's scoring 30 every game I do I do think you need to he needs to carry you there I guess he does but there's one thing to like for the next for instance like if Jalen Brunson doesn't give you a certain amount of points a game you're not winning that game like Luca doesn't have to give you 40 for you to win the game that's the that's the where I'm at I do think the Lakers right now have found the groove and they have found their identity which is important this time of year because if you're a Lakers team you know you're running out of runway right like you like this point you are who you are right there's no trying to figure out what you can be in another month like this is the team that's gonna be showing up in the playoffs and you have to believe they have beaten playoff contenders right as of right now that you feel like they can make a run down the stretch. Aten's playing hard too and Marcus Smart is engaged on the offense. He is playing a lot better it helps. Yeah it helps when you give a little bit after catching the alley oops it's a good thing all right I cannot wait to talk about this story with you let's get back to the tournament all right so we all remember the moment Mullins hits the shot Yukon goes crazy they complete the comeback stunning win and then Dan Hurley does he headbutt a referee does he get up in his face what's going on it's very weird situation it feels like a misfire it's a very odd situation so Dan Hurley goes on the triple option podcast and that ref is Roger Ayers he's Ayers excuse me says we have a great relationship and this is Dan Hurley's version of a best take a listen. Really at that point in the game we had it won and he's such an easy guy to work with during the game that I thought he was coming over to chest bump me to celebrate the shot you know because it's not like that for me with him you know like my experience with him has been you know we have a one every game I've agreed to every call but his like so that was in no way was that like me and a ref that I had been at their throat the whole game that was more like the emotion of the shot and this is a cool ass ref that you know I just like was were you guys sharing the moment together no he was just coming up to tell me yo is point three oh I think there's gonna be point three or point four on the clock is what he's saying to me. I have a lot of thoughts on this so you can go first or I can go first but are you buying it we know he's an ultra passionate coach yeah no he's a fiery human being we know about the legacy in his family you know yeah I by the way I played against his dad his dad was a monster like yeah so famous that but I'll say this and the biggies find them on March 7 for $25,000 for unsportsman like so this is in his wheelhouse right like you put it miles but so if this is also to your point as you stated that this is coming after Mullins big shot I don't think this was intentional I don't think this is like him having some back and forth with the ref Rob airs earlier in the game and then now he's like oh look at us when I'm coming to get you I don't think this is just him being fired up and being you know just being a rowdy head coach it's completely absurd come on DP I I know I'll get crushed for this on the internet I do not care it is completely absurd how let me tell you how Willie timing matters by the way no I I agree and I even believe this happened in it this didn't happen a full in a first quarter because a file wasn't called which okay I hold on a second I believe that he wasn't mad I believe that he has a good relationship with airs the ref I believe that he didn't he was outside of his mind and he's a little bit of a crazy person and he's celebrating in the moment I'll concede all of those points okay would you concede this one point come on there was at least a 1% chance come on out DP at least one percent one percent that he could have gotten a technical file for that 1% could he have yeah that's all I'm asking he could have then it's completely unacceptable no Willie there's the time the timing matters yeah his timing makes it worse how there's after the big shot no yeah Willie if the guy hits a shot yes to complete the largest comeback or second largest comeback in a lead eight history you are up now by one correct the penalty for a technical foul is a free throw in the ball imagine the 1% comes in the technical foul happens do kits the free throw and then you lose an overtime it is the worst coaching blunder in the history of the sport you are the coach you are the adult in the room you can't do it you can't run the risk because your reputation maybe not with this ref does precede you I can I asked the guys the producing staff to put together this is who Dan Hurley is correct it is a bit like who he's always been I know so rest know that going into games and he led every coach coming into this year no coaching college basketball had more technical fouls than Dan Hurley not Tom is over 20 years older than him that's correct not Bill self who's a decade older than him not Kelvin Samson not any coach who's been doing it way longer than him he is a maniac with rest and I know before the sweet 16 he was like oh this is just about people thinking that society is going soft I don't care if you coach your players hard I don't care if you yell I don't care if you yell at your players I got it you're making it about you in what way look at this B roll he has to be held back I have been at games where Dan Hurley does that coaches team in the huddle in a media timeout and he spends the time out just mean mugging refs outside the huddle trying to intimidate them it is just a it is a showman it is a look at me thing and the fact that there was even a 1% chance that Dan Hurley was going to get a technical foul after Braille and Mullins is shot all this should have just been about Braille and Mullins is shot and Alex Carraband's pass it should not have been trying to tell me early headbutt that referee it's crazy and I can't believe everybody that Dan Hurley stole the spotlight from Mullins on the big one of the biggest shots of franchise histories you're bugging like first of all it's why why did this happen this happened because he's a passionate man and the rest control yourself control yourself what look at the rest of the building people are naked in the stands every one's controlling themselves everybody else is celebrating with people who are celebrating he's celebrating with his staff it will he he literally is for a forehead with the referee you know who every other person you know it's Rob airs oh my god you can't get too close you get to get with this pandemonium like that you would have to think I had coached that by the way we're losing night by losing by 19 in this game I was a little behind beside himself I feel like I'm taking crazy pills everybody agrees with you apparently so it was just a complete nothing burger of a story we said it's up you went for a chest bump and it lands so he went with the forehead oh I'm sorry I'm sick wrestling move oh I'm sorry is that a thing that happens chest bumping referees I do it all the time when my six-year-old yeah happens it's not a thing that happens you don't chest bump referees head coaches and referees don't chest bump I was coached by the great Rex Ryan I've seen him do worse and he and keep his job and not fine it's part of sports there deep listen he might be the best coach in the sport and his antics with referees are completely out of line and absurd I can have both I can have both thoughts in my head at the same time he's an amazing coach and he's even better in March the fact that it was even possible that you could have gotten a technical foul and cost your team that game after that shot is totally in defense and I'm floored and disappointed in everybody who defends I don't think we celebrate the rough for having a little self-control there fine it should be in that spot celebrate the rough he needs more time now for some he said we said listing to some of the best sound from the league meetings we give you our analysis there was a lot to choose from but we begin with Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and he was asked a very simple question why Gino Smith is something about a quarterback and I'm gonna say a quarterback with a chip on the shoulder I just feel like like he's the guy who's gonna lead us to the promised land he's the guy that's gonna touch the ball more than anybody else on offense and listen I know he had a struggle and I think a lot of quarterbacks you know they have their struggles can we define promised land please because it's not like there were a ton of options for the Jets at quarterback it's not like we could pick from 20 starters in the league and we just chose Gino Smith like he was kind of what you had to choose from and they are they are expected Willie they're over under in Vegas is five and a half wins this year really only the Cardinals and the Dolphins expected to win fewer games than the Jets so I'm just not much of a believer in Gino at this stage of his career but also bringing the Jets to any sort of success like he's not going to a team where he is built to have success no I think the Jets will be better on defense I think offensively they will look they will I think they're gonna roll up on some people I can give them seven I think they can win seven or eight games make sure I really believe that the problem with Aaron Glenn right now what I've learned about him is that he talks big and bold right and he does and it's sometimes he doesn't understand that you're in New York where you've sold countless quarterbacks to the fan base to be the part of the guy that deliver and it hasn't happened this last year he sold his Justin Field that he was gonna be the guy that's gonna get us over the hump we're gonna land in a wild card that didn't happen so nevertheless man we know why Gino Smith is here he's here to quiet the chaos stabilize the offense and this look like a competent NFL outfit so that's that's the goal for the New York Jets seven or eight wins would be a massive I'm serious it'd be a massive the defense is going to carry this team yeah well and then you'll just be out win just enough games to not draft high enough to get a great quarterback in next year's team was 3 and 14 less he's yeah we need we need some hope in that building 7 or 8 wins brings hope enjoy the 7 wins and the 9th pick next up the Chargers Jim Harbaugh he was asked about how it's going early with the new relationship with him and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel take a listen awesome awesome with the capital A and it is what I really thought it was just a perfect combination Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert gonna build really well for the Chargers obviously I'm a Herbert guy I've been a Mike McDaniel guy there's no way this doesn't work yeah I honestly don't see a world where it doesn't work like Jim Harbaugh is an excellent leader old-school good old stuff Mike McDaniel the questions about him as a head coach were are you too new school well he's he's soft parents it right perfect way to say right but so like but he doesn't have to do that yeah like Jim Harbaugh could do that part but Mike McDaniel it's like oh wow your league led the offense you led the league in offense with Tua you were able to be a productive offense when you had to just keep throwing the ball behind the line of scrimmage you run really creative plays and different types of things but you give him Justin Herbert and that offensive line and Omari and Hampton and some of the blockers that they've brought in in the fullback in the interior of the offensive line to give Justin Herbert a legit top flight running game because you know Jim Harbaugh wants to be committed to running the ball yeah it's like modern concepts with an old-school coach I see no way it doesn't work there's no doubt he raises a ceiling I think what's interesting about Mike McDaniel's is that even with the success of Tua we still I still feel like we didn't see the best of it because you got to understand he couldn't really expand the playbook because he couldn't allow Tua to sit in the pocket due to concussion problems right and you went to also wasn't a guy who could run the ball scramble or improvise with his legs because it cuts us now you have a quarterback who has the arm talent who's tough who could sit in there and deliver the football anywhere all over the field I feel like we're about to see Mike McDaniel's really going to evil genius mode with Justin Herbert so and I still think the charge is still needed out for one receiver whoever that is maybe it's AJ Brown I would love to see that if not you have to sit back and think like this is this is going to be sweet in LA for the charges yeah it's it was just such an interesting hire and the things that I've said about Herbert the argument against it is playoff performance and he hasn't won the big game okay fine conceded and he hasn't played well in those playoff games but Mike McDaniel turned down head coaching interviews and other offensive coordinator offers to go here Jim Harbaugh was at Michigan and won a title and he had been in the NFL and teams that kept calling and he made the jump to go there like these are some of the brightest offensive minds and just brightest minds in coaching and they both chose with a ton of they could have gone anywhere Jim Harbaugh could have gone anywhere Mike McDaniel could have gone to 10 different places and they both chose to go with Justin Herbert it shows how special he is I give you one more I don't think he gets enough credit for the job he did in San Fran with Mike Shanahan Kyle Shanahan excuse me so I I think we underestimate how good of a coach he is and I think sometimes that's taken away because when you see him at his pressers he's all over the place he's saying whimsical things I think he's gonna have a hell of a year with the charges I like when he says the whimsical things all right and I gotta be honest I kind of like the soft parenting I'm kind of soft I'm a little old you're very old school I address Tiger Woods stepping away from golf in first things last time now for first things last Tiger Woods changed my life and I don't say that lightly I don't pick up a golf club I don't fall in love with the game and I don't dream about one day sharing the sport with my two young sons without Tiger Woods he didn't just dominate golf he made it matter he made it cool he forged a personal connection for millions of people and the sport and that's what makes this so hard because here we are yet again another arrest another incident behind the wheel another reminder that for all the brilliance we've witnessed inside the ropes there's been real struggle outside them and parsing the details hardly seems to matter that no alcohol was involved and that's good I guess but let's not kid ourselves this is a pattern car accidents DUIs pain management issues and an abuse of prescription medication and I'll admit there's part of this that hits a little closer to home for me I've had five back surgeries including a full spinal fusion I know what it's like to live with chronic back pain and to try to swing a golf club when your body just doesn't want to cooperate now to be very clear I'm operating at about 1% of Tiger's level on my absolute best day but I do understand the frustration and the temptation when you just want your body to feel normal again but understanding it doesn't excuse it at some point the conversation has to shift from surprise to accountability Tiger is 50 years old he's a father he's someone who people still look up to whether he wants that responsibility or not and while it's fair to have empathy for what his body has endured it can't excuse repeated dangerous decisions that endanger his life and those around him on the road but here's the complicated truth the PGA tour and the golf world at large is never turning its back on Tiger Woods not because they condone this but because they can't his impact is too massive if he's at Augusta it's the biggest story if he's the Ryder Cup captain one day it's the biggest story if he joins the champions tour they'll set ratings records over a million people tune in to watch him play in the golf league and take some swings on a simulator Tiger isn't just a golfer he is the gravitational force for the entire sport so here we are holding two truths at once Tiger Woods the reason so many of us love this game and Tiger Woods the cautionary tale and maybe the only thing left to root for now is in another comeback it's that he finally gets some help that's all I've got thank you so much for hanging out with us on the OT we're back tomorrow with more first things first