Hour 2: Are the Thunder a Top 8 Team Without SGA?

From 30 for 30 podcasts. Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing what's about. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. They're placing the arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. Welcome back to First Take. Time for a quick take here. Chanae, the Lakers lost to the Magic last night, 1-10, 1-09 after a failed final sequence where Luka gave up an open shot. LeBron couldn't knock down the three. Did you have a problem with Luka passing up the shot, Chanae? What did you think? I honestly did not have an issue with Luka passing up the shot because he was two for ten from three in the game, so I feel like maybe that gets in your head. But even bigger picture issue here is the fact that he's hesitating. Because he thrives in late-game scenarios. So the Lakers have to address this issue where Luka feels confident. And that starts with their system that they run on the floor. And even more egregious is honestly that they weren't able to get a defensive stop to play before. They were yelling, let's get a stop. They could not do that. They're 24th in defense. And then they have to win games through offense. And now Luka second-guessing himself. It's like a pile of mess right now for Los Angeles. Yeah, I don't know if that shot, that unorganized last sequence is the big reason they lost the game. But nonetheless, not a great situation. Let's stay in the West, though. The Thunder continued their winning ways last night against the Raptors. SGA still sidelined. Carson Wallace matched his career high with 27 points to lead OKC to the 116-107 victory, pushing them to an NBA-best 21-7 on the road. Now, despite their record yesterday on first take, Stephen A. says OKC, very different without Shea. I get to look at a team and say, all your horses in order, who's who. But you're saying, no, right now Shea's out, so I can't count. I can't think about Oklahoma City without Shea Gilders-Alexander. Without Shea Gilders-Alexander, I don't have Oklahoma City as a top eight team. Not a top eight team. Cheney, go back to you. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Just so you know. Are you changing? I didn't. To America out there, they were talking about and tweeting and doing all of this other stuff. I just want to let America know before Shanae and Wendy Chimes in here along with Doggy, I didn't stutter. I said what I said, and I meant what the hell I meant. Without SGA, they are not a top eight team in the NBA. I said it, and I meant it. Floor is yours. We double down. So, Shanae, go ahead. Do you agree or disagree? Normally, I'm the one to defend teams in this circumstance. and Stephen A, by the numbers, you are absolutely correct. You are correct because what you're missing is 30-plus points per game from SGA. Also, your team is 10, 11 points better when he's on the floor, which your margin of victory without him, that's going to mean a couple more losses most likely. On top of the fact that you've been dealing without J-Dub, if you're the Oklahoma City Thunder without Shea and potentially J-Dub, it's going to be hard. And I want people to understand also, this is probably the case for four or five or six teams in the NBA. Let's look at the West. OK, see, without SGA, it's going to be hard to stay afloat. That's why everyone's talking about the Spurs potentially overtaking them and trying to use that as motivation to get home court in the Western Conference. Spurs, without Wemby, are they a top eight team? They have a good supporting young cast, but Wemby is Mr. Do-It-All. Houston Rockets in the West, are they a top eight team without Kevin Durant? That's going to be difficult, especially for them offensively. Let's go to the East. Detroit, without Cade Cunningham, they will look night and day different. Boston Celtics, without Jalen Brown and his MVP-level performance, are they still a top-eight team in the East? Probably not so much. A lot of the top players in the NBA are doing so much for their squad. I know that the Oklahoma City Thunder, they're almost a new version, the defensive version of what the Golden State Warriors were, strength and numbers. But right now, without SGA and a questionable J-Dub, it's going to be really hard to maintain your place in the standings. That's no knock on just one team. It's just by design the way that a number of the top teams in the association are looking. Wendy? Yeah, so look, if they don't have Shea, they're not repeating as champs. So, I mean, I think after that, I don't think they care whether they're two or seven because that's what's most important to them. Having said that, they are in this very unique situation right now that has got the league stressed out, which is they're not paying their top players that much money. It's kind of crazy. And so as a result, they've got this incredibly deep team. They've got all these guys at spots 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 who would be much higher on other teams. And so therefore, they're incredibly deep. So they can beat the Cavs. The Cavs have won 13 of 15 games. They lost to the Thunder on Sunday. Yesterday, the Raptors at home, the Thunder are missing three vitally important players. They're like fourth guard. You know, Kaysen Wallace is one of their best defenders, but he's like their fourth option to be their creator. He just promotes himself and goes to 27 points. Like, that's an incredible luxury because he's still on a rookie contract. His value is vastly more than his contract is. They have this incredible window this year and next year especially where they're not going to be a luxury taxpayer. and that they have this team that's the deepest team in the NBA. So the argument about top eight, you go here and there, you can create your case. Basically, you're saying could they make it to the second round if they didn't have Shea? Are they playing a play-in team because they get to be the number one seed, or are they the fifth seed trying to beat a fourth seed without home court? It depends. But if they're the number one seed and they've got everybody else besides Shea, they could win a round in the playoffs, and that makes them top eight in my book. I think definitely. Yeah, I don't think they can win a round in the playoffs because they'd have to win a round against a very good team. And I don't think without SGA they can do that, but I'm sort of in between. I think they can win 43, 44, 45 games. And if you win 43, 44 in that area, five, six games over 500 without them, you'll be fighting for that eighth seed, whether you're in a play-in scenario or whether you're in a situation where you get the eighth seed without having a – you're not going to be in the top six because you're not going to be ahead of Minnesota, the Lakers, and Houston. So you're going to be in that 7-10 range because you're going to win about 43-44 games. And remember one thing about guys when they get hurt. You can't read too much into teams' records when they lose a star because the team is motivated to show that they're more than just a star. So the Thunder right now, what are they, 5-1 or 6-1 since he's been out? Brian, you would know better than me. 5-1, last six, all without us, Gene. All right, so they're 5-1. They also beat the Thunder. They beat the Cavs. They killed them up 28-5. They killed Cleveland. And then he went to Oklahoma City, a good team, and beat them last night. So they're motivated right now. Oh, you think we're all about SGA? We'll show you. And so they're motivated. But over a long season of 82 games, that motivation doesn't run. You can't do it for 82 games. So that's why I don't read too much into the record now without them. And that is why I don't think they win a second-round playoff series or a first-round series. But I do think Steve's wrong. He's making it sound like they win 30 games. No, they wouldn't. But there's a distinction here. It's top eight team in the NBA, not necessarily top eight when it comes to seeding. Well, top eight in the NBA, they would not be top eight in the NBA. They would not be top eight. And that's what I'm saying. So I'm right. Hold on, hold on, hold on, Sinead. Hold on, Sinead. Hold on, Sinead. Yeah. So, Doggy, that means I'm right. Pick your head up, look into the camera, and say, you're right. That's what I said. So you just admitted that I was right. Say it. Say it. Top eight. Everybody knows there wouldn't be a top eight team without Shea. They don't have to. Evidently, Wendy didn't feel that way. Yeah. Let me go. When their all-stars are available. Ladies and gentlemen, can y'all refresh my memory, Shanae, Wendy? Jalen Williams, didn't he miss games to start the season? He's missed 32 games so far. Yeah, yeah. How many games did he miss at the start of the season? A lot. Like 15 or 20. Okay. What did the Oklahoma City start off as? 24-1. 24-1. The reigning defending NBA champion with the reigning defending league MVP with the reigning defending NBA finals MVP who spent the previous three years averaging 30, came on the court this year without Jalen Williams and just did the same thing all over again. The same thing all over again. They start out 24-1, okay? They're the best team in the NBA, right? They've been living as the number one seed in the Western Conference, if not the NBA, all season long. They are 38-11 with him on the floor. They're 7-3 without him. They are 10 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court versus with him off the court. He ranked second in the NBA in net rating at 15.5 points per 100 possessions. And 42.4% defensive field goal percentage, ranked sixth in the entire NBA. His name is Shea Gilgis Alexander, a.k.a. Shea Butler. And this brother right here, you understand, without him, they ain't the same. Now, that doesn't mean they're not a decent team. They're not. What I'm saying is this. When we say, look at me incredulously, top eight. Top eight in the NBA of 30. Yeah, they could be like top 12 or something. They ain't top eight without them. I stand by what I say. And Stephen A you know I believe men lie women lie occasionally but numbers don With Shea on the floor Did you just add occasionally Did you just say men lie but then when you said to the women you said occasionally Is that what you just did Is that what you just did today? I just wanted to make sure you were waiting. You're just trying to slide that in there. Oh, my God. Go ahead. It's a little remix. It's a little remix. Okay, their offense when he's on the floor is fourth best in the NBA. We know last year they had the best defense. When he is off the floor, they are 27th in offense. That, to me, speaks volumes. And also, I think a big part of this conversation, if J-Dub is healthy consistently, maybe they can creep their way up into the top eight or top six. And that would be really impressive based off of what Wendy's saying. They are the deepest team in basketball. But right now, with their lack of availability of number of players and without SGA, it's hard to make the case alongside so many other NBA teams that have top players that also are very impactful as well. For the purposes of first take, we call him Shea Butter on this show. is Shea Butter. And let me tell you something right now. It ain't like he's some prolific scorer, doggy. The brother is the point guard. So the point is the ball is in his hands. Everything goes through him. So when he ain't there, there is a precipitous drop-off. Okay, top eight in the entire NBA? No, it's not without Shea Butter. That's an easy, that's an easy. But Steve, how about the conference? Where would they be in the conference? Forget the NBA. Western Conference without SGA, what would they be? Top five or six seed. Top five or six seed. Top five or six seed. You think they'd be that high? With Minnesota and the Lakers there, they would be that high. I said five or six. I didn't say top four. And, Shay, you back me up. We only lie occasionally, right? Girl, the minute you said it, I said you were right. That's right. Women only lie occasionally. Seven and three without SGA. I will remind you I was raised by five of y'all. I was raised by five of y'all. Just keep going. Just keep going. Y'all can try that y'all want to. He knows we're right. Okay, we'll leave this here. I can't believe you guys think that they're not in a top 18 at that SG. But we'll do this more, I'm sure, later on. Here's tonight's ESPN NBA doubleheader, highlighted by four of the association's top teams. Cade Cunningham and the Pistons will host Chet Holmgren and the Thunder at 7.30 Eastern, 6.30 Central. Then Jalen Brown and the Celtics will wrap up their four-game road trip in Denver against Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the Nuggets. NBA countdown crew tips off the coverage. at 7 Eastern. Coming up here on First Take, are we more or less confident in Shador Sanders being QB1 for week one following what the Browns GM Andrew Berry had to say yesterday? If you didn't hear it, we'll let you hear it next. Loretta Claiborne really has gone the distance for the Special Olympics. Claiborne was born in 1953, partially blind, with both an intellectual and disability and clubbed feet at a time when having a disability was reason enough to be placed in an institution. Instead, Claiborne's mother raised her at home with her six siblings. At the suggestion of a school counselor, Claiborne ran her first race in the Special Olympics in 1970 when the program launched where she grew up in York, Pennsylvania. Claiborne went on to win six gold medals at six different Special Olympic World Games over the years. She's also participated in over two dozen marathons and continues to train in a variety of Special Olympics York County Pennsylvania sports. When Claiborne ran the Boston Marathon in 1982, she earned her best time to date. She finished in three hours and three minutes, placing her in the top 100 women finishers that day. I think the biggest thing that we want to see from Shadour is just continued growth. I think he grew a lot from start one to start seven. I think certainly playing more efficiently, not putting the ball in harm's way as much would be important. While maintaining the ability to produce out of structure and generate explosive plays, you're not going to see all of that in the upcoming months because we're not on the field. So the biggest thing that he can do is learn the new offense, get in with the coaching staff once our off-season program starts, continue to work on his body physically, and then make strides when we actually get on the grass. That was Browns GM Andrew Barry with his thoughts on Shador Sanders. As Damian Woody is back here with us on First Take, how confident are you that Shador is QB1 week one for the Browns? I mean, listen, I guess over 50%. I mean, right now you're talking about between him and Deshaun Watson. Hell, Deshaun Watson hasn't been relevant since 2020. You know, so, you know, the only thing that's keeping Deshaun Watson on that team is his contract. And so when you talk about those two, I would have to lean towards Shadour Sanders. But listen, I think the biggest thing with the Cleveland Browns situation, all starting five of their offensive line are free agents. They literally have no starting offensive line right now as we speak of. That is a bleak, bleak situation if you're the Cleveland Browns, regardless of who plays the quarterback position right now. A hundred percent. And I don't like that, GM. You know, the Mankin thing was a disaster. You know, they should have promoted Schwartz. Steve said that earlier today. He's 1,000% right. I am not – I wouldn't trust him. He would bother – if I'm a Brown fan, I don't got a lot of faith that he's the answer. But you're right. I don't care if they bring back Bernie Kosar. And, you know, he's been – he got delivered. They don't have any offense. No. They got no receivers. The running back got hurt at the end of the year. Their offensive line's a mess. The tight end's good, but they have no offense. So they can bring – I don't think Shadour long-term is your answer, but if you're asking me week one on September 12th where we're starting quarterback, where else are they going? So it'll probably be him. Okay. Well, the problem that I have with that last part that Doggy said, where else are you going? Because, again, I understand that, you know, quarterbacks don't grow on trees and, you know, you got to go out there and find them, and I get that part. and I'm rooting for Shador Sanders. You know, his daddy's like a brother to me. We're very tight. I love him to death and I'm rooting for his son Shador. But we got to keep it a buck and call it like we see it. Right now, 16.7 points per game in the seven starts that he had. 29th out of 32 teams. 59% completions. 26th among 30 qualifiers. Seven interceptions. Worse than the NFL interception percentage-wise. 73 passer rating. 29th among 30 qualifiers. 36% success rate, 29th among 30 qualifiers. Now, the legitimate argument can be made that you got to give him somebody to throw it to. You got to give him some weapons. You got to give him cats that can actually get open and make things happen. So that definitely does need to be said. If you ain't giving a quarterback weapons around him, what the hell are they supposed to do? But I don't blame, you know, Barry as much as I pointed the finger at Omar Khan. And here's the reason why. You went out and you got Deshaun Watson. Deshaun Watson was all world when he was in Houston. We were talking about this brother, and they were throwing out comparisons potentially. You know, he was like second tier. He was like a level right under Patrick Mahomes. We were talking about him in the same breath. We were talking about Josh Allen and other guys. Remember that. And then obviously he had his troubles in Houston. He comes to Cleveland, and it's damn near look like he forgot how to play football. It's just that bad. And you signed him the $230 million guaranteed, which reset the market and caused all kinds of trepidation throughout the National Football League because of what other teams are going to be looking to do, et cetera, et cetera. The point that I'm trying to make is that your Cleveland, that's an ownership move with Hasselham. You went all in. With Khan, I can look directly at him and not point the finger at Steelers' ownership. With Barry, I got to look at the owner and see how much the owner has gotten in the way, even though he's trying to act like he's not in the way now. Well, the damage was already done, and he's got mop-up duty to engage in. So it's a different scenario between Andrew Berry. I keep saying Berry, but Berry, Andrew Berry, and Omar Khan. It's two different scenarios, and I wanted to make sure to highlight that. But in the end, in terms of confidence, it's your door, Sanders, starting week one. I hope he does, but the numbers don't say that we should be confident. I just don't know how you could even evaluate the quarterback's talent in Cleveland right now. What did he make? Seven starts last year, as we've talked about extensively, like their offensive line is in question. He doesn't have a lot of help. Dylan Gabriel. We don't, I mean, my goodness. They didn't even, the GM didn't even mention Dylan Gabriel. A guy who they drafted ahead of should do a thing. Exactly. Like the whole thing. It's like how you even evaluate what they have going on there. It's a disaster. One other important thing to bring up, just looking at my notes here, under pressure, a league high, 51% of his dropbacks. So he was out there running for his life more than half the time. And in that span, he only completed 42% of his passes, two touchdowns, six interceptions, and 23 sacks under pressure. That is Shador Sanders. So, again, that speaks to our offensive line, but it primarily speaks to Cats not getting open and him holding on to the ball because he's waiting for somebody to show some kind of daylight so he could have an excuse to throw the damn football. All of those things play a role, which is why it's so difficult to analyze Shador Sanders. You've got to look at what he's working with. You just can't get around that. I think, Steve, made a good point. Haslam's a major problem in Cleveland. That owner, he has not won the Watson trade. He is a major issue. Pittsburgh's got good ownership. Cleveland does not. Keep that in mind. Yeah, and so he's been pressured and sacked, all that, and yet they have five offensive linemen that are all free agents. mess. Let's move out west. Max Crosby continues to be mentioned in trade rumors. However, Raiders general manager John Spitek says that he still expects the star DN to suit up for Vegas this upcoming season. Should the Raiders keep Max Crosby? I've heard he's been spotted at O'Hare Airport. He's been rumored linked to a lot of different teams, but should he stay in Vegas, D-Wood? I would trade him. And I love Max Crosby as a player. He's the exact type of player you want your organization, but I've always said Max Crosby and the Raiders are on two different timelines. It is more important to build around your quarterback and making sure that you don he doesn walk into a situation where you hurt him and put him out there than having Max Crosby on your team I think you can go out there and get assets to help a young quarterback We know it's going to be Fernando Mendoza. Get the assets, build around the quarterback, and Max Crosby go on. It doesn't turn out like Miles Sanders with the Cleveland Browns. I understand your point there, Damian. I get it. Get some offensive linemen. I understand that. but they got five or six really good players on that team. The running back's good. Bowers is going to be good. The left tackle, Miller, when he comes back, is good. And Crosby's good. I don't want to trade him. Now, I understand your point. Quantity over quality. But I would like to keep him if I was a Raider fan. Thanks, Stephen A. Of course you should want to keep him. The question is, are you going to win with him? Because he's suffered enough. At some point in time, let's show a little empathy to the players. My God, look at what he's been subjected to. And he's a stud. He can ball. And this is somebody that we want to see in a postseason situation, in some big-time situations. And we're not going to get to see that for the foreseeable future with him as a Las Vegas Raider because they simply don't have it right now. Now, maybe Kubiak is the right man for the job. Mendoza is the right quarterback behind center. That changed things around. We get that part. But Max Crosby has been a Raider his entire career. And for the most part, they've stunk. And so when you look at it from that standpoint, it does get a point in time after seven years in the National Football League, you should want to find yourself in a better situation. I know he's trying to come across as somebody who's fiercely and incredibly loyal to the organization. I get that part. But in the end, they haven't been loyal to him because they haven't put a winning situation around him. Now, Tom Brady is there. So everything changes now because I know that brother's a winner. And somehow, some way he's going to find a way to correct things. I totally believe in him. But that doesn't mean it's not going to take time. And if you can get an abundance of assets for him, doggy, then you have nothing to lose. I agree with Damian Woody here. You have nothing to lose because if you get an abundance of assets, it buys you the time that you're looking for while you have an inordinate amount of assets to build around on top of the assets that you already have, as opposed to having a star that's languishing there and never is in playoff participation because you're not getting there. You agree? I keep him, but I know what you guys are saying. It's a tricky one. Yeah, it's hard. He loves the Raiders. He's been with the Raiders forever. He's a tattoo of the Raiders, but you can't blame him for testing the waters. They've been so lousy. Get rid of the tattoo. Get it removed. I heard it's painful. After the break, we'll let Dog off the leash. Mad Dog will tee off at a variety of topics. We love this segment. We'll find out what he's mad about next. Hello, it is Liv Morgan here. And Dirty Dominic Mysterio. and don't forget to watch Elimination Chamber this Saturday. Only on the ESPN app. Losers! Yes sir! I can't hear you, gosh! Jordan, they took my headset off! Where is that dopey dick? What's the matter with the jam? Dornuts, Dornuts, I love you! Strike me down! Yes sir! I'm just scraped! Now when I ask for it, I am strongly powerful. Oh boy! Are we ready? Let's go! Let's go! Alright, Steven, you there! Here we have it! I'm right here. Let's start with the hockey tournaments at the gold medal. I was going to do this last week. I'll do it now. I hate the format. Everybody makes the medal round, and then you have knockouts, so you play three or four exhibition games. Nobody gets knocked out. The format's absurd. But the bigger issue I have, how could you settle, and they did it on both the women and the men's side, how do you settle your gold medal game with a three-on-three? That is the dumbest thing in the world. You are trying to tell me that this event is the supreme event in the hockey world. International, the whole nine yards. And you're going to settle it with a three-on-three. And I want to hear Canada complain because they won the semifinals on a three-on-three. They were annoyed about how they lost the three-on-three on Sunday to the United States. They can't say anything, but I can because I said it last week. I've said it all over the place. I would have said it here. You can't play. Could you imagine if they played a game seven in the NHL Stanley Cup final and decided a three-three in the third, a tie after the third period they're going to play a three-on-three to see who wins? I mean, that is so stupid. You've got to at least play a full period of three-on-three before you do a five-on-five before you run to a three-on-three. That makes it so winky-dink. That is, you know, it's home run derby if a game is tied in the postseason after the ninth inning. They don't do it in the Stanley Cup playoffs. You play five periods. All right, you don't want to play five periods. It's an exhibition series. I buy that. But you can't start an overtime or riveting one at that and have them go up and down the ice and have somebody score in two and a half minutes. That is absolutely ridiculous. There is so much to like about the hockey tournament, and so much of it is gimmicky, and this was gimmicky. There's a lot more that's gimmicky, but this was awful. That is number one. What are you rooting for Canada? What are you talking about? We won! We're talking about it! It's NHL against NHL. That's another thing. Connor McDavid's my favorite player, and he's on the Canadian team for crown of ice. You're rooting for Keita. They throw him out at once. Go, Kev. What's your thoughts on that? No, I agree with the five-on-five and then, like, sudden death where you have the shootout. Like, to me, that's the mode that I would go in. You want the shootout? Yeah. You want to play one overtime period where it's five-on-five? Yeah, one overtime, five-on-five. And then do a shootout? Then do a shootout. All right, Stevie, your thoughts? First of all, the only thing I like about this segment thus far is that you got on some fly sneakers to match with your white shirt. You look dapper there. You looked after that. I give you credit where credit is due. But your take is weak. I'm not going with that. I don't like it at all. I love the three-on-three. Listen, it's best on best. You know what? My best three against your best three. Let's get it on. It ain't like it was Scrubs out there. You know, Canada had a chance, but USA handled their business. And this is not the moment in time to be complaining about something that the USA team benefited from. We won the gold for the first time since 1980. With all due respect, shut the hell up, doggy. Don't sit up there and rain on Team USA's parade. I totally disagree with you. Totally. You guys are both not scoing Canada. Number two, speaking of World Baseball Classics, is Tariq Skubal of the Tigers, is he in or is he out? Tariq Skubal. Whatever his name is. He's telling you. This is the same guy last year who took himself out of six innings in game five against Seattle in a big postseason series because he threw 98 pitches. Tigers blew a 1-0 lead. So originally he was going to perform in a World Baseball Classic. He's the best pitcher in the American League. Nobody's arguing that. Originally, he was going to perform in it. And then, yes, he says, you know what? I'll pitch one game, and that's the end of it. Well, hold on now. One game. Are you involved? It's almost like he wants to experience what it's like to play for a flag. And then after he gets it out of his system, he's had enough. Are you on the team or are you not on the team? He's going to be a free agent, so he probably doesn't want to pitch too much in case he hears his arm because they're all thinking about what money they're going to make at the end of the contract. But still, that really drives me crazy. If you make a commitment to be on a big team with judges on it, by the way, and if you make a commitment or you don't make a commitment, you don't play it halfway. That is item number two. I agree. I actually agree with this. I love Tarek Skubla. I want to see him play more, so I actually agree with this. But it's Tarek, not Tarek. No argument from me. All right, Stevie. What's your take on that one? Let me hear. I agree with you. My point is why they're allowing it, Yves and O'Yal. So it's not just him. That's a good point. You know, it's the WBC. That's a good point. Either you play it or not. Why are they allowing it? You in or you out. Period. No half-assing it. You in or you out. Excellent point. I should have brought that up. I left it for you. You picked it up beautifully. Nice job. Item number three. All right. I'm going to play this sound because I got to say something when it's concluded. This is at the Combine in Indianapolis. Our favorite Jets quarterback, Aaron Glenn. Listen up. To me, play call is my superpower, really. I really miss doing that. And I think it's a huge part of helping us become the team that I see us becoming. Now listen, if you're Aaron Glenn, with the year that you had, with the coaching staff you put together, with the quarterback you played in the last four or five weeks, where you were non-competitive and an embarrassment, at least the Giants were competitive. They won the last game against the Cowboys. At least the Giants gave everything they had. The Jets were terrible. They didn't want to play. If you're Aaron Glenn, and you know what? In a perfect world, he would not have survived. The Patriots got rid of Mayo. They got to a Super Bowl. In a perfect world, and if Woody Johnson had to pay him $50 million, he may have made a change. Nobody wants to hear from Aaron Glenn right now if you're a Jet fan. I got superpower. No, you don't. Okay? Just be quiet. Do what you got to do. Try to put together a staff that's halfway decent. Go to training camp. Be nice to the media. Don't make it sound like you have all the answers when you don't because we saw it last year. Aaron Glenn, to me, if I'm a Jet fan, he's walking on very thin ice. The less I hear from Aaron Glenn about your superpowers, the more comfortable I am if I'm a long-suffering Jet fan. That is number three. Damien? Damien, go ahead. The minute he said, everybody said, oh. The minute you brought this title, I just started laughing. I really just started laughing. Listen, if you had these superpowers, damn it, why didn't you bring them out last year? Good point. Like, that's my whole thing. like man let's just win some damn games i'm so sick and tired of all this mess as someone who roots for the jets who wants the jets to do well win some damn games be respectable out there at least fired his entire staff you better have a superpower because everyone brand new so we need to lean on something this year i know that you been pretty hard on him Steve What your take here Go ahead Well he ticked me off with this because this is the kind of reason I am hard with him You know, you're on the sideline celebrating like you did something after a play. You ain't won a damn game like that. Act like you've been there before, and you're the head coach. Lead that kind of celebrating to the players. Y'all know what I'm talking about when he's dancing on the sidelines, going all of this other stuff. Look, man, you know, it wasn't an impressive season. You finished dead last against the pass. You finished 29th against the Rush. You had like the 31st-ranked defense in the National Football League. But you know what? We understand that the Jets basically threw away their season by trading away a couple of their best players in Williams and Sauce Gardner. Okay, we got that part. What about the year before when you were in Detroit? What about that year? The year your defense was ranked seventh. As the season waned, you gave up 30 points to the Buffalo Bills, okay? Let's not forget that, okay? I'm looking at this right here. This is 2024. I apologize. They gave up 48 points to the Buffalo Bills, all right? You gave up 31 to the Packers, all right? You know, you lost by giving up 45 to the Washington Commanders. It's a lot of injuries that the Detroit Lions were suffering from. I get that, and that plays a role in it. That doesn't mean that you can't be a coordinator. It doesn't mean that you can't coach a defense. It just means that you have to prove it, that it wasn't ideal circumstances and you didn't necessarily respond to it. What's up with all the talking? What's up with all the talking? You don't look with the cameras and talk about that's your superpower. The only superpower you really had is that you connected with Bill Parcells. That's it. That's right. Everything else you got to prove. You got to prove on your own. I just want him to prove it. That's all. I'm not rooting against him. I want the brother to succeed. But he's making it hard to defend him. And this is the latest issue with that. Yes, I agree. The Jets are in a world of hurt. We need a W out of the gate here. Coming up on First Take, should the NFL consider adopting the UFL's new rule of awarding four points for field goals of 60 yards or more? We'll disagree, of course, on that one. That's next. The ESPN app is your home for WWE premium live events. To watch, sign up for the ESPN Unlimited plan. If you have one of these paid TV providers, ESPN Unlimited is included at no additional cost. Just head to activate.espn.com. Follow the step to get set up and you are good to go. Then sign into the ESPN app and boom. The biggest WWE premium live events all in one place, anytime, anywhere. The want. The will. The winner of this matchup goes on to WrestleMania. The Windy City. Stream Elimination Chamber on the ESPN app with the ESPN Unlimited plan. Oh, yeah, we are excited for this weekend, and it is great to be joined now with WWE superstar Cody Rhodes in the building. And, Cody, you qualified for the Elimination Chamber. Some would call it a little controversially, right, because of the involvement of Drew McIntyre. What would you say to those people who say you did qualify unfairly? I wouldn't say any controversy because Drew only attacked two people in the match, which was myself and Jacob Fatu, I just took advantage of the fact that Sami Zayn turned his back. Again, this is very much just from a sports perspective. Whistle had not blown. So maybe not underhanded in any way. I don't call that controversial. Okay, I agree with you. Decision you got to make is all. There you go. From a sports perspective, you're in the right place. You're giving it to me, the sports perspective. I got it. So the field is officially set for the Elimination Chamber match. Who are you most looking forward to eliminating during the match? Well, I already eliminated him from the Royal Rumble, so I want to go two for two. And that would be Trickwood. Just because he's clearly, WWE, a massive breakout star for us. And he's incredibly entertaining with his lemon pepper steppers and all this stuff. I hope he makes it here at some point. But he needs, you know, not yet. Not yet. So I hope I can get him again. We had him on the show the other day. He showed off his lemon pepper steppers. He had his white fur on. Yeah. Yeah, it was wonderful. It was a day of a snowstorm here, too. So it blended in a little bit with the snow. Perfect. His white fur. If you were to win, you would get a rematch with Drew McIntyre, who we just brought up for that WWE championship that he took from you, as we just said, in January. What would it mean for you to get a little revenge there on Drew? I think you want to close the loop. And I think this year more for me, I mean, I'm seeing all the WrestleMania sign everywhere. I'm not being able to point at it when the years before I had won the Royal Rumble or even last year going into it, I was the incumbent champion. This year it's really up in the air for me and it's tumultuous and you're on that chase. So just to be able to point at the WrestleMania sign and know I'm going to go in and do another WrestleMania main event means a lot to me. Drew McIntyre, great. It doesn't matter who it's against, but I'd love to close the loop on Drew because we've been fighting each other for quite some time. So I know you're heading to Chicago. Obviously, this is going to be at the United Center, and that's a place you've never wrestled before. What are you looking forward to experiencing here? I want to see the Jordan statue. I want to see that and the fact that this show is people upon people. pandemonium, as a gorilla monsoon would say in our industry. I'm very much looking forward to the noise. I have a sense that the United Center might be in a bit of a way game for me, which is fine. I'm good with that. But I've always had a good bond with Chicago. I wrestled there with my torn pec. I had done other events there that were very important to my career. So looking forward to another building. The building. The building. I told Cody who walked in, I'm like, you'll just feel the aura when you see the Jordan statue. He'll give you those tough guy vibes. I believe it, yeah. He'll be ready to rock. He'll conquer anything. That's right. AJ Styles was honored on Raw this week as his career comes to an end. As someone who has been around wrestling your entire career, what do you think of the recent retirements, John? Cena and what they mean for WWE? I don't want any more retirements. We're saying goodbye way too much to too many people. AJ is incredible. He's one of the few people who wrestled not just me, my brother and my dad. and really a game-changing type performer. I love how WWE did it and the inclusion of The Undertaker, which was a complete surprise to everyone, to then say you're going into the Hall of Fame was a really beautiful way to go out. I mean, it's never easy to see Jon tap out, to see AJ go down like that. Gunther really is turning into the career killer. It's more than just a moniker. Hopefully someone can put an end to that. But I don't want any retirements for a while. That's fine. Let's do debuts. Yeah, I like that. You know what I'm saying? New beginnings. New blood. New beginnings, yes. Yeah. Speaking of new beginnings, kind of, you've recently been getting into acting a little bit more, right? Maked Gun last year, Street Fighter coming out later this year. So think about it. If you could work with one actor, actress, I don't know, sports figure, it don't matter, in the future, who would it be? Oh, that's an easy one. Andy Garcia. He's got a little bit of synergy with the cigars that I like as well. And I just, my head exploded when I saw him on Landman. He's incredible. I've liked everything Andy Garcia has ever done. I'd love to smoke a cigar and do any scene, even if he's just beating me up. Got it. Who knows? I'm down for it. Don't say that. Well, yeah, maybe not that. I'll give myself more credit. There you go. Don't go that direction. All right, Cody, good luck this weekend. Thank you. Thank you so much for being with us here on First Take. Thank you. So the 16th annual WWE Elimination Chamber is Saturday at the United Center in Chicago, a spot in the men's and women's championship matches at WrestleMania 42 on the line. You can stream it exclusively with the ESPN Unlimited app, live or on demand, as always, using that app. Sign in or log in with your TV provider to unlock your access. Coverage begins at 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific. So should the NFL award four points for 60-yard field goals? This is a debate you don't want to miss. This first take rolls along next. Should be too good. SEC men's basketball matchup tonight on ESPN2 and the app. Number 7 Florida squares off against Texas, who's on the bubble. 7 Eastern, then it's Darius Acuff and number 20 Arkansas hosting the Texas A&M team looking forward to their 20th win. All right, let's go to the UFL. They're making a major change for their upcoming season. and a team will now be awarded four points for any field goal of at least 60 yards. This is part of a series of rule revisions the league announced on Tuesday. So now the question is, should the NFL also make 60-yard field goals, 60 or more yard field goals, worth four points in the NFL? I love this. I actually think this would be enticing for the game. I'm not opposed to this at all. D-Wood, what do you think? I actually like it. I think, you know, the NFL, NFL's adopted some things from the UFL, which UFL, it seems like they're ahead of the curve. I think something like this would be great because from a strategic standpoint, it's going to change how coaches start thinking about game situations. So I'm all for it. I want it. I don't like it because there's too much accent on the field goal kicker anyway. They don't like the idea that one play at the end of the game, some kid can make a 70-yarder like Aubrey down in Dallas. And this puts more of an emphasis on a field goal kicker instead of on the 11-11. So I am not high on it myself. So you want more offense. I want more offense. I don't want to see a kid kicking a 65-yard field goal. It drives me crazy. Okay. Stephen A? I completely agree with Doggy on this one. 22 field goal attempts of 60 or more yards last season, with kickers making about 12 of them. That's about a 55% rate. There was roughly one attempt every 12 NFL games last season, so a little more than one per week. I agree with Doggy in this regard. We want to see the players, Woody. We want to see running backs, wide receivers, tight ends. We want to see that quarterback throwing a football. You tell me somebody that walks through the turnstiles to watch the field go kicker. The more you put in their hands, the more I think it would erode the quality of play. You could be a team that don't have a liquor offense. You suck. But you got a kicker that can kick the ball 60 or 70 yards, and that rescues you with four-point plays. Hell no. No. No, do not do that. Do not adopt that at all. Leave it as is. What's the difference if they're out there kicking anyways? It's just one more point on the board. You know where Rose, the quality of play? This is one more point matters, Shay. Every other play. I hate that. See you tomorrow.