Best of the Week on The Herd

Published Jun 14, 2025, 7:00 PM

Where Colin was right and where he was wrong

Colin gives his AFC QB Rankings

NBA champion Paul Pierce joins the show to tell Colin why the Knicks made a mistake firing head coach Tom Thibodeau

Previewing game 4 of the NBA Finals 

Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sportsradio dot com, or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Here we go, it's hour two, it is a Monday. We are live in Chicago. It's the Herd. I am back, Jason off my bicycle from Copenhagen few nights.

So good to have you back. Man.

It's great to be back. Hey.

By the way, you want to tell the audience, I was texting you while you're in Europe.

All lots of important stuff happening around you. There is Yes, it's tomorrow mandatory mini camps in the NFL, so you've got to keep your eye on. Cleveland is very fascinating, That's all I'm gonna say. Everybody makes bets. You can sit on the fin on this. My bet is Shador is going to start at some point in the NFL season. There are people all over the internet former NFL scouts. He's going to be a bust. He can't play.

Oh, here's got to be a middle ground column like, yeah, he may start, but Kevin.

Sefski doesn't love him. It's this thing he's going to be a bust.

Like, come on, we don't know.

That's a bit much, all right, Matt Hasselbeck's around the corner first though, on a Monday. I haven't been here for a while. Colin right, Colin wrong? Where Colin was right? Well, this Tyrese halliburtons the most overratted player is nonsense. First of all, I think he has one of the highest IQs and eqes I have seen from a modern point guard. Thirteen or fifteen times this year under two minutes when he could tire or take the lead, he hit the shot that's insane, That is all time. That's better than Steph Curry. So I never bought into this. I'm not surprised they stole the game in Oklahoma City. I don't think they're as good as Oka see. I don't think they'll win the series. But this idea, this guy even sniffed overrated. I'll make the argument he is the most underrated player the last two years in the NBA and tip of the captain J Mack who spotted it over two years ago. Where Colin was wrong. I thought Aaron Rodgers was too smart to sign with the Steelers because I don't think it's a good fit. I think it's a defensive first organization with an offensive coordinator he's not familiar with. They lost their left tackle, they've struggled in pass protect they've got no Nause Harris, and it's a division with Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson four times a year minimum. So I listen. I thought he had better offers. I thought he would land a better offer, and I thought this was a this was a spot that won't end well. But I'm wrong where Colin was right. Ross Tucker, somebody whose opinion I trust is reporting the Vikings do have concerns with JJ McCarty McCarthy quote. No matter what they say about JJ, they wanted Sam Darnold back, and they weren't going to get Darnold, so they wanted Daniel Jones back. As much as their quote sold on JJ McCarthy, they've got some doubts. So remember he missed valuable time not only playing but practicing last year because of his surgeries. And I've said it before. He reminds me of an Alabama quarterback. His last two years at Michigan, he played with a great run game. He didn't have to throw much with poor protection. He had the best coach in every game he played, and he had the lead for ninety percent of it, and an unbelievable ground game in defense, I just don't know if he's built to come from behind throw forty three times in game, which you have to invariably do, especially in the NFC norm where Colin was raw. I'm surprised the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeaux. Yeah, he's not the most creative guy offensively, but that's why you build a staff. He built the culture. They defend. They're tough, they're smart, they're physical. The issues the Nicks had to me are personnel issues. Brunson's not a great defender, so they can struggle having he and Kat on the floor at the same time. That's not really a Tims issue. I think the NBA is about steps and the process, and they need to make another tweak. I'd move off KD and bring in I'd move into KD and Offcat, but I don't think firing him was the answer. Where Colin was right. As much as I love the NBA, I said this finals would be a ratings whiff, and it has been a clunker. Listen, it's a series for diehards only. The market size isn't great. Halliburton is not really a known entity in America, even though he's a fascinating player OKC style. Aesthetically, he's not appealing inn SGA Again, he's great, he's productive, he's efficient, He's not necessarily dynamic or fascinating. So the ratings are bad for this final, even though it's a diehard final. You can't be a basketball casual and be into this. But I do think Indiana's going to win more games in this series than it goes, at least six. Where Colin was wrong, I thought Aunt Edwards of Minnesota was about ready to grab the mantle as face of the league, but he really struggled. Two things are true. You can really get him off his game if you force him, trap him, double him, and force him to make quick basketball decisions. He is still fundamentally too young. He's not a refined player. He had way too many turnovers, almost as many turnovers as assists against ok SEE. He shot twenty eight percent from three, and they just forced a really young, still developing star to make fast, quick decisions in the half court and he's not quite there yet. So I'm wrong where Colin was right. I've been saying the NIL is going to save college basketball, and Real Madrid and Barcelona reportedly are considering shutting down their youth academy in Europe, and that's where most of the good players are in Europe that are seventeen, eighteen, nineteen years old. Why because American college basketball programs NIL money is greater than europe can affoord And so you're seeing Auburn brought back their star guard. Why they paid him more than he can make in the NBA. Cooper Flag made eight million a year at Duke, and now Illinois is going to have five European starters. American basketball programs may shut down some of the great academies in Europe because they're buying the best European players. Not to mention, like the Auburn guard, many of the good college players are staying in college for another year. So college football didn't need saving college basketball, did I predicted it? The NIL is going to deliver Where Colin was raw, I thought the Dodgers roster was all time stuff, But in their last twenty two games, they're under five hundred. Their pitching staff inies, they're decimated for the third to four straight year. Do they have to clean house on the pitching coaching staff? Like? What is happening with the staff? Uh? They're only one game ahead of the Padres and the Giants over the twenty two game skid, fifth worst team era Glass, Snow and Snell among fourteen Dodger pitchers still on the ion l where Colin was right. Finally, Oh, for years I have told been lectured by American soccer fans the United States men's national team will flourish they only get an elite coach. Well, they hired Mauricio Pope Jadino. He is brilliant, and they've lost three straight and the Gold Cups around the corner. Now, Turkey's pretty good. It's okay to lose the Turkey two to one. But I keep hearing my entire life from every young American soccer fan it's the coach that's the problem. And I keep saying, maybe we've overvalued our players, their grit, their focus, their toughness, our academy system, maybe it's that and not always the coach. So they bring in a brilliant coach who was lauded for his success in Europe. We've lost three straight and kind of, you know, kind of limping into the Gold Cup, are we not? Colin right? Colin wrong?

On a Monday, be sure to catch live editions of the Herd weekdays and noonon eas theyre not a Empacific.

So you know, you know this that last year was a great not this past draft. The one before was a great draft. Most of those quarterbacks went to the NFC. Jaden Daniels, Michael Pennix, JJ McCarthy, Caleb Williams, Bowe Nicks went to the AFC. But the reason the AFC has been better than the NFC, not necessarily just the Super Bowl, but but overall is because the AFC for about a seven year stretch kept hitting on quarterbacks. And you know, C J. Stroud and Herbert and Burrow and Mahomes and Allen, they just kept hitting and hitting and hitting on him. So if the young NFC quarterbacks like Jayden Daniels and Caleb and Pennix, if they can hit in that draft a couple of years ago, it'll even things out. But right now, the best quarterbacks in football are overwhelmingly in the AFC. So now as Aaron Rodgers goes from the Jets to the Steelers, he stays in the AFC again with a defensive culture and a defensive head coach. I let's just stay how good do we think he is compared to the other now he's passed his prime. He's forty one year old Aaron. With the other AFC quarterbacks, well, I'll just start it with this, since twenty twenty two, and that includes the last year in Green Bay, Aaron is not Geno Smith. And I know you don't want to hear that, but if you told me I had a game to win, I'd take Geno. Gino right now moves, he's more mobile, he's pretty close to his They'll probably a bit out of the prime. He has a better passer rating, completion percentage, much larger yards per game, and he's winny more games. So and Gino's not in the upper tier of the AFC quarterbacks in my opinion, do I think he's a little undervalued. But if I went today and you told me best quarterbacks in the AFC, and I mean maybe my order is not perfect or to your liking. Because I think Burrow last year honestly was the best quarterback. I'd go Alan Mahomes, Burrow, Lamar, that's the big four, nobody disputes. I'd go Herbert C. J. Stroud, and I put Geno seven. And again, when Gino has a run game in his career in Seattle, he was good. His passer rating's over one hundred, so we can make we can say now Geno's Sam Darnold. When he's rattled or there's pressure, he can be reckless. But if you give him time and you give him a decent run game, Gino's Fmith's pretty good quarterback. He's a B plus plus. And I would put the eighth best quarterback Bo Knicks, who's going in the year two with Sean Payton, and I think bow Knicks is so much more athletic than anybody wants to give him credit for. His running is a huge element of that offense. And then number nine, I think you get Aaron Trevor Lawrence in Tua, where it kind of just depends on the game. I don't trust too in bad weather up North, Trevor Lawrence makes too many mistakes and Aaron's he is a pocket quarterback, so that's kind of what you're looking at. Can you make the playoffs with the ninth best quarterback in the AFC? Absolutely, especially if your defense is great. But that's kind of where he's at right now. He's sort of in that Tua Trevor Lawrence, Aaron Rodgers. I think that's fair. He's forty one, he's a strictly a pocket quarterback. And Arthur Smith, six years coach and coordinators, had one top ten offense. Remember the Steelers lost their best running back, their left tackling, their best receiver. No other team in the NFL had that kind of losses in offensive production.

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Hey, we're Cavino and Rich Fox Sports Radio every day five to seven pm Eastern. But here's the thing, we never have enough time to get to everything we want to get.

To, and that's why we have a brand new podcast called over Promised. You see, we're having so much fun in our two hour show. We never get to everything, honestly because this guy is over promising things we never have time for.

Yeah, you blubber Lisa and me.

Well you know what it's called over promise. You should be good at it because you've been over promising women for years.

Well, it's a Covino and Rich after show, and we want you to be a part of it. We're gonna be talking sports, of course, but we're also gonna talk life and relationships. And if Rich and I are arguing about something or we didn't have enough time, it will continue on our after show called over Promised.

Well, if you don't get enough Covino and Rich, make sure you check out over Promised and also uncensored, by the way, so maybe we'll go at it even a little harder. It's gonna be the best after show podcast of all time.

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Paul Pierce nineteen years the Hall of Famer is now joining us. Not every teammate, Paul is like that. Not every teammates happy when you get yours in Boston. You guys were stars. You're a star. Rondo wanted the ball, you had, Ray Allen, you had.

KG.

Halliburton generally appears joyful on winning more than everything in your career. Is that common?

Wow? That's a great question.

It depends on type of leader you got in the locker room, It depends on what's driving them, and it depends on like what's the goal?

What are we trying to accomplish?

You know, people talk about winning, but are they willing to do the necessary things to help them win or is it just more about them? And I don't see that about Halliburn, it being about him. He just wants to win. And the thing and I said this yesterday on the Speak, I said, like.

His play is uncommon today.

His play is unorthodox, which is which is strange because when you look at the common point guards of today, he's a traditional point guard in my era today, he's unorthodox, right, you know what I'm saying, Like he's a pastor first point guard. And that's why people don't look at him like a superstar. And that's why. But his effect on the game is the same as a superstar. And that's what I've been trying to tell people.

Yeah was You know what's funny it is the playoffs, especially these playoffs, you don't get the whistle. I mean, they're gonna let you play. I thought a big part of this last night was SGA didn't get to the free throw line. This team is four and four in the playoffs when he doesn't get eight or more free throws. Some of this is James Harden was totally reliant on the whistle. You weren't. Kobe wasn't. But that's not a knock on SGA. But the record is clear. Yeah, because home Grin's game is still a little uneven. You're never quite sure what you get. Last night, lou Dort hit threes. I think SGA is a little whistle dependent. Is that fair?

You know it's fifty to fifty with him because some nights he gets the whistle. I mean he's still good for twenty five to thirty, you know, I mean, think about it. He had had twenty four last night, didn't get the whistle. I mean, he could still put the ball in the bucket. But I think he's just getting worn down. COmON, he's getting worn down. Did you see at the end of the game, they're picking him up full. They're playing the long game. They're like, all right, he may get us in the beginning, but were gonna pick a full court by time that fourth quarter come. He's gonna be so worn down because he has to do it on both ends of the court. He has to defend because Indiana's making them defend too.

That's right, that's right.

You know they throwing picks on him, They fouling him pretty hard, and they're picking up full.

That wears on you.

I've been on other than gays, like you just picked up full court or somebody just on your body at all times. That wears you down throughout the course of the game. And in the fourth quarter when you got to do so much for your team, it's draining. It's draining when you when you got those guys who don't hit the shots. Now you got to get back on defense. It's draining when they score and then you take the ball out. I get it, and I'm the point guard, and they picking me up baseline the baseline, and that's what I'm seeing right there.

They're getting tired. It's clear.

I want to shift to the New York Knicks. Rachel Nichol was on an hour ago. Rachel Nichols. I my take is, if you're going to fire anybody in any position, you gotta have a plan. You gotta have somebody in the waiting in the car, waiting in the sedan outside ready to come in. It doesn't sound like the Knicks had a plan. What was your kind of take on the firing at Tibbs.

I thought it was kind of unjust based on you know what Tibbs was able to accomplish this year. You know, he got him to the conference finals, and I think he maxed out the team because everybody saw the Knicks for what they worked throughout the regular season and everybody was like, Okay, yeah, they're a second.

Round exit team, right right.

They made it to the conference finals one a lot of games in the regular season, but I think their roster, based on other other rosters I'm looking at in the Eastern Conference, I think he maxed them out.

They were deficient.

They didn't have a bench, and even if Timms didn't play him, when he did play them, I mean, how productive were they Because when you look at the likes of Indiana, when you look at Boston and teams of that nature in the Eastern Conference. These guys had depth, and that's something that the Knicks were front heavy. So I think he maxed out the rosters. So I don't think a coach coming in.

The rosters. What the roster is the coach, it's not the coach.

You're gonna have to get more pieces for this team to get over the hump. I don't care who you bring in. You can bring in Red All back, bringing Phil Jackson. This team maxed out.

You know, Paul, It's interesting. We forget they had Hartenstein and Dante deven Gente last year, and Dante's a great three point shooter. How many times in the next series did we go, God, they need one more guy to hit a three. They had him. He's off to Minnesota. So they lost really valuable pieces and it showed up against Indiana.

Man, I'm telling you, I tell people this.

If they didn't make no traders stood Pat they were injured last year.

Yeah, all they had to do was stan Pat.

If they stand Pat, we're not We're probably talking about the Knicks in the finals. Because you would have had depth, you would have had more experience from a year ago. Randall would have gave you pretty much what Kat gave you on both ends of the court, but you would have had to depth. You would have had guys off the bach that you can depend on. So you know, it is what it is moving forward. I don't know where the Nats go from here as far as coaching, but they're right there. Take nothing away from their right there. They're a piece away. No matter what coach you bring in, they're a piece away.

So this is one of the better domestic drafts. Last year was a heavy international draft. We got Duke players, Rutgers players. There's a lot of American kids in this draft. Cooper Flags the overwhelming favorite. I have made the comp that I think he's a more aggressive Jason Tatum. Maybe not today, but that's how I see the comp.

You don't like that comp, Caylin, if you don't get out of here with that.

Talk about Jason Tatum.

So you're telling me that Cooper Flags offensive package is equivalent to Jason Tatum, a guy who's average thirty in the league twenty eight, twenty seven, you think Cooper can do? I love Cooper and I love what he's done. You know throughout his career. He's a young guy too. Hey, I look at him more of like a andre Kerlinko. You know, he can play both ends, maybe a little more offense than Carolnko, but you gotta stay at I think it was.

An all star in this team, in this league.

Do I see him as a superstar? I don't know yet. I'm not quite sure yet. You know, how is he in the pick and roll? How is he initiating offense? How is he you know, got to look at other things when I look at primary scores and guys who lead their team. How is this playmaking, you know, off the dribble, when he's getting trapped, when he's in different situations.

Now, he's still young and he'll learn these things. But I saw those.

Things from Jason Tatum at Duke already playing a pick and roll, playing on the ball, initiating offense off the ball, on the ball. So will he be an impact player in the league. I believe so because he does too many things to not be an impact. Offensively, he can knock down shots. Defensively, he's a tear. His engine is a talent, and that's something that people don't talk about. Having that type of motor is a talent in this league. Because when I think about motor there's only a certain few guys that have a motor that's head and showed above everybody. You talk about Auntie Takoupo. When guys like Westbrook, you know, that's just that extra umph and he has that.

By the way, Cooper averaged nineteen a game at Duke as a freshman. Tatum averaged seventeen, so they were very similar. I do think even Tatum's dad has mentioned this. I think Cooper's a more aggressive player, and that's just that's almost DNA stuff. I can't explain it. They're just guys that want the shot.

I agree with that he's a more aggressive player as far as attacking the basket because I don't think he's a good a shooter as Tatum either, though that's fair, you know, so you take one, give one like I was more like Tatum's probably was. Well, I wouldn't say a better shooter, but I like to attack the basket. Well, I mean, you know, it's just like you said, it's in the DNA, and it's also what the coaches are allowing allowing these guys. You know, when I look at the Celtish, I mean they're a three point heavy shooting team, and I was thinking about it this morning. When I watched the finals, Colin, I saw that the both teams combined to shoot. I believe it was like twenty seven threes and twenty to like forty nine threes combined.

And I've seen on multiple.

Occasions, you know, the Celtics shoot fifty plus threes and it's just.

Like wow, By the way, do you think the Celtics go for Yannis make a big move move? Jalen Brown like, what is your feeling on what Boston does you have a sense of that culture.

I'm not sure it'd be necessary to go for a Janis as long as Jason Tatum is out and I don't know the timetable on when he come back in even if he does come back, he won't be the Jason Tatum that we saw leaving the playoffs. You know, it's gonna take some time to get back to that. You know, if it were me, I kind of like let the year play out and make decisions. I wouldn't be too fast to make decisions. I'll see where the team is and what direction we're going in, and if there's something I can do at the trade deadline that's gonna benefit them in the long run or even in the now, I'll make that move, But like I wouldn't just be like, well, Jason's heart, let's throw away the year. I'm gonna sit back and see and be patient because most of the times when you make these hasty decisions and decisions that are too quick, you most likely make the wrong decision on the team.

So I hope they just sit back and be patient and see what they need.

So you have the most all time game winning buzzer beaters made or assistant on regular and postseason. Indiana is the most clutched team in the playoffs, nine and one in clutch time. Oklahoma City, because they won by an average of thirteen points in the regular season, is a really young team that hasn't been in a lot of close games. I thought down the stretch the last six minutes last night, I thought Oklahoma City shot creation was bad. I didn't think they got good looks. I thought Indiana just got better looks. And I thought to myself, Indiana lives in these kind of games. They're in these games every night, and I feel like, oh, it's a little bit of a negative with OKAC Paul. It's like a football team that blows there. I always feel about the Baltimore Ravens with Lamar. They blow so many people out in the regular season. They're not used to a one possesion game. And I think Okase looked a little off late last night.

Well, yeah, those teams are front runners, Collins and and there's nothing wrong with that, because I've seen front running teams win. Uh, it's just that they're not used to being in that situation when you're blowing teams out at a historic rate. Now, when the game is close and tight and it's starting to set in, they panic. And that's what that's what we call front runners. I mean, look at the numbers. If you just look at the numbers in the fourth quarter alone in this series, it's it's drastic how Indiana is out playing in the fourth quarter when the game is tight. Indiana got better. And it just look at the GGC last night. They missed free throws they don't normally miss. I see I saw Jalen. I saw Jalen miss what three was it three or four straight free throws? And then it was like, whoa, it was obvious. If it wasn't obvious before, it was last night. Just at the free throw line alone that you were like, whoa, it got tight in there. And to their credit, they're a young team. And I said this, this is why I picked the Indiana Pacers. People don't understand, Like when I watched them top the bottom coaching their stars and you ask me, like, what who are their stars? That's right, we don't know because it's a different star every single night. And that's what makes them tough to play. Like what am I doing if I'm okay, see and I'm in the locker room saying, oh, we have to prepare for Nie Smith and them hard. Oh but they didn't show up yesterday. Oh but now Mather goes for twenty six. It's so unpredictable. And that's why I picked them those teams for me, Colin, when we you know, it's the toughest games for me to play in. Say like we playing a team and the star was out, So now you're like, oh, it's easy to prepare for what I know.

I know what he is. It's easy to prepare for that.

But when now the unpredictable ability sets in, it's like anybody can go off, and that's who Indiana is.

It's so unpredictable. It's tough to prepare for them.

Yeah, if sy Alcam had twenty nine points next game, you wouldn't be surprised by that at all.

No, you wouldn't.

And if he had seven, you wouldn't be surprised. I mean, look, t J McConnell took over the game in the second quarter.

Crazy right, right, They have so many unsuck heroes. I'll tell you this story.

We were at the end of the year in twenty and ten and we're asked we were positioning ourselves for the playoffs, and we were like, all right, should we win these games or lose these games? Should we rest and get ready? It was our seat and was on the line, and we got into the meeting and me Rondo ray keg he said, whould y'all rather play in the second round? I think it was like Orlando and Cleveland because Orlando it was like a two seed and Cleveland was a one seed. We were like, let's play the number one seed in the second round with Lebron.

It's easier for us. It's easier for us.

To prepare for him because we know it's all about him. Now that Orlando team was a little more inpredictable. Yeah, they got the white, but they got Turgulou, charloue Is, Jamie and Nelson and they got all these other guys. That's like a little I don't know who's gonna be the next start on any given night. Lebron in Cleveland was easier to prepare for, even though they were the number one seed and won sixty six games.

Paul Pierce the Hall of Famer. He's on Speak after Us Good Seniors, Olsma Man.

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Oh here we go, it is a Friday. It is great to have you in. Jay Mack and I ready to roll on a Friday. J Mac Tonight of course Game four, pivotal game for the NBA Finals. I am falling in love with this Indiana Pacer team. We'll have Rick Buker on next start to talk some of that, you know, J Mack, it is. It is the summer of love in the NFL. Because we had the combine and then we have the draft, and nobody has a bad draft. Everybody gets an Arab right, nobody's got a bad draft, and then we got OTAs. Oh who these guys are amazing, and I want to talk about that. It's the summer of love. I saw this story this morning. Aaron Rodgers, Blairs the headline and Mike Tomlin form a unique Super Bowl partnership. Oki Dokie, I saw another story. Uh Bo Nicks is playing fast. Here's another one. One of his teammates in Minnesota, says Jaye. J McCarthy, who has never played an official NFL regular season game, reminds him of another quarterback.

He understands that we have to build a family here and that you know, he can't have unique results without unique relationships that we believe in. And then, man, he's got some confidence and he reminds me of like Josh Allen when I was with him in Buffalo, coming into his own and understanding the power that he has to lead this organization. And he's doing a fantastic job doing that.

JJ McCarthy reminds him of Josh Allen. Okay, that's a little hot for me. Here's what's really gonna happen this regular season, and all of us know it is that this league is now because of rule changes. A seventy thirty quarterback coach league. As great as Andy Reid is, he only started hoisting trophies when he got Patrick Mahomes. Now it may be a sixty five thirty five league quarterback coach, it may be a seventy five twenty five, but it's about a seventy thirty swing. So if you have a star quarterback and he has at least a B coach, he's gonna make the playoffs. If you have a really good quarterback with an A coach, he's probably gonna make the playoffs. So these are not my playoff predictions, but this is what I believe makes the playoffs generally, either you're a star quarterback with a B coach or better, or an A coach with a really really good quarterback that is often young and getting better. The first group, and my opinion, the five best quarterbacks in the NFL are Patrick Mahomes, Matt Stafford, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow. I know you don't love Zach Taylor, but he got to a Super Bowl. He's had a lot of big wins for a young coach. I think he's bright. I don't always love his clock management, but I didn't like Andy Reid's before he had a great quarterback. I'm going to go they'll make the playoffs. The next group Jaden Daniels, Justin Herbert, c J. Stroud, Hertz and Golf. I know, I know Nick Seriani don't love him, but if you win a Super Bowl, I gotta make you a be coach. The team buys into him. And then the third group, and it's mostly a group where I love the coach. Jordan Love and Matt Lafleur, bo Nix and Sean Payton, brock Perty and Kyle Shanahan and Drake Mayon Vrabel. This group, I generally like the quarter I like the coach more than the quarterback, but the quarterback.

Is good enough.

These are not my playoff predictions, but mine are pretty darn close to this. And my gett. Now I don't have Donald or Baker or Gino and they're really close or Caleb. Those guys were next in line. You know who's not Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin because Aaron's not close to his prime and Mike doesn't make quarterbacks better. And as much as we talk about the revelation of JJ McCarthy or or the special relationship in Pittsburgh. This is an incredibly predictable league, and in the AFC with the higher end quarterbacks, it's even easier. Last couple of years, it's been a really easy conference to predict division winners. Again, I had Donald close, and I actually have Donald in the playoffs. Geno's close. I think he is Donald. I got close love as coach. But by and large, all this summer of love, we all kind of know what it's going to look like by the first week of February. All right, So maybe the biggest story of the week has been the Knicks firing Tibbs. That was a couple of weeks ago, but it's interesting yesterday. I'm here in some of the next players like Jalen Brunston saying, hey, this guy deserves love. Well, of course he does. But when you fire somebody. My wife used to work in HR and I remember when I first met her twenty years ago, and she said something she had worked in the hiring business. She said, overwhelmingly people fire themselves they know it's coming. Well, I don't think Tibbs knew it was coming, and I don't think he fired himself. And here's why I keep hearing this. You know, the Knicks weren't creative enough offensively the Knicks. The Knicks made some moves and didn't get better. So last year, at this time, one calendar year from today, they had Dante deven Tenjo. They not only had him, he was their number one three point shooter, they had Julius Randall, who was their number two playmaker behind Brunson number two and scoring number two and assists. They also had Isaiah Hartenstein, their starting center, big time energy guy. So any team that loses their best three point shooter in a three point shooting league, their number two playmaker and a high energy starting center, you would think, who boy, that's going to be rough. The Knicks were actually better in the regular season, went further in the playoffs, and were actually slightly better offensively in net ratings seven to five. It's like the Knicks fired their trainer because they only lost twelve pounds and they wanted to lose fifteen. Yeah, maybe your diet's not good enough. That's why the TIBs thing has always been about personnel. I like McHale Bridges, but he's not consistent offensively. I like kat He's bad defensively, certainly not as good as Hartenstein. So my take on this whole thing is generally, and I think my wife was right, people do fire themselves, right. They're inconsistent, they're not reliable, they're toxic, they're just not very good. But Kim's actually one more games regular season, one more games in the playoffs, and was slightly better offensively losing his number two playmaker, is best three point shooter, and I would argue Hartenstein is a more complete center than Robinson who's all defense, or Cat who's all offense. And Paul Pierce talked about this yesterday, Well, you.

Look at the likes of Indiana, when you look at Boston and teams of that nature in the Eastern Conference, these guys had depth, and that's something that the Knicks were front heavy. So I think he maxed out the rosters. So I don't think a coach coming in the roster is what the roster is the coach. It's not the coach. You're gonna have to get more pieces for this team to get over the hump.

I don't care who you bring in.

You can bring in Red all Back, you can bring in Phil Jackson, this team, Max Stout.

And what's interesting is of all the teams that Kevin Durant is rumored to be going to, there's four that are getting mentioned. The Knicks are one of those teams, meaning even New York Nick fans, New York Knick media, and NBA insiders believe they could really use another catch and shoot guy. So you're acknowledging the personnel isn't quite right. And beyond all of this is the fact that you and I are watching the Indiana Pacers. They've got more good players. Miles Turner is a better rim defender than Robinson and a better center, better offensively. Pascal Sayakam to me, I would rather have him on the floor than Kat Halliburton to me, is a more complete guard than Jalen Brunson. And they've got a couple of other players who shoot threes more consistently, it feels like to me than Mikhale Bridges. Indiana's got better players. You could say, well they got a better coach. Well, he's been fired twice too. So when I look at Indiana and I look at the Knicks, and the Knicks gave I mean the Knicks gave the Pacers more troubled than Cleveland did, more trouble than Milwaukee did, and about the same level of trouble Oklahoma City is. So if you start watching, I mean, remember that ball that bounced high into the air and went in for the Pacers. Some felt that was the difference in the series for a while. So the tips thing is, it's not just that the Knicks didn't have the next coach in waiting. Is you're acknowledging it to personnel issue. That's why you want KD. They got better in the regular season, better in the playoffs, in a slightly better net rating. I don't know. That feels like a job promotion, not a pink slip. All right, j MC, We've got a lot of things going on today. You know tonight's game. What's the number? In fact, I think it's okase he's a big favorite tonight, right.

Okay, see minus six Now it's dipped to five and a half.

In some spots.

Obviously, I'm shocked that the market didn't move yesterday when I said I'm on the Pacers in Game four. But you know whatever, I'm surprised you haven't picked.

The game yet.

Now I don't feel I'm not going to bet against Indiana here. We both loved Indiana in Game three. Just think about what could happen to night in in American sports, everybody, you know, the people that cover this league in the locker rooms day and day out. If you would have pulled the coaches and the GMS, nobody would have picked Indiana to win the championship. They were not favored against first round of Milwaukee. Now, I think we both loved them over Milwaukee. We thought it was a great matchup for them. I didn't like him over Cleveland. You did in New York Indiana. I kind of liked Indiana, but it was slight, and I liked Oklahoma City. Think about all the knowledge in the NBA, the media, the coaches, the GMS. If you'd have polled all of them, including the players. Remember Halliburton was voted most overheted player, nobody would have picked the Pacers to win the championship. And if they win tonight, they won't be up three to one. And I think that the numbers are something like eighty eight percent ninety two percent winning if they win that game, which by the way, they have been the much better fourth quarter team. Oklahoma City is clearly younger and not as good on the road. And Halliburton right now is once again, like against Milwaukee, Cleveland and New York, controlling the pace of the series.

Okay, see by the way to eight against the spread on the road. Have not covered one road game in the postseason, yet for some reason, everybody's obsessed with their season long net rating. Everybody's got okay, see tonight, coll it, I don't see it.

Give me the Pacers once again. Teams are thirty eviden one in the finals when leading three to one. If Indiana wednesdaight, folks, what a revelation that nobody in the league, no GM, I mean outside of Indiana's group, nobody would have picked them, which I guess this is the NBA Adam Silver wanted. I know the ratings aren't great. I find it interesting