The Herd with Colin CowherdHe tells you why he was right about James Harden and wrong about the Lakers.
Plus, 3-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselbeck joins the show to talk about Aaron Rodgers leaving the Steelers in QB limbo as contemplates retirement
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Ah, here we go, it's hour two.
It is a Monday, wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day.
By the way, the Warriors now get Minnesota their coach Chris Finch an hour from now. That is a tough matchup. Houston was so inexperienced in Green that they could sort of manipulate them in the half court offense.
Minnesota's not so.
Minnesota's BIG's Julius Randold, Ruby Gobert are all veterans, so you're not going to fool them. I think Golden State felt very confident in big games in a series because they thought, if we can just limit Shehendom through Draymon Is, you know, we don't have a great fear of their half court offense, and you saw it yesterday.
Minnesota is a whole different ballgame.
Yeah, remember they overwhelmed the Lakers with size, just overwhelmed them. Go Bearer twenty four boards? Is Golden steaking to play big? Do they want to play Howard?
No? I mean Looney's gonna play and Draymon cominga doesn't work. He saw it yesterday. They put him in and pulled him out. The kid seven minutes, no post holes, he's okay.
Well, if he could pull Gobert from the basket and last three he's then it's game on.
But like, I don't know how they guard Julius Randall. I mean, who matches.
Up with Randall?
Well, it's funny when Randall went to the t Wolves. Initially, I'm like, that's a weird fit. And over the course of a season this is where coaching matters. Yes, he's actually fit very well. It's almost like when Juju Smith Schuster went to the Chief from New England. You're like, he shot and then you're like under their targeting. Even nine times in a playoff game. He worked with Andy Reid and Julie Randall's like, this is at the end of the career and like I watched them in the Lakers series, I'm like, he's their second guy for a basket.
I think they where's gonna have to play Gary Payton to defend Anthony Edwards. You know Curry's not and you know Buddy Heald can't. So like it's gonna be tough for the Warriors.
Yeah, all hands on deck, All right, Colin was right. Colin was wrong on a Monday. Here we go where Colin was right. James Harden in the playoffs not somebody I trust to. No shows and Kawion Harden again, they're absolutely all time gifted. You can't build around either. I've said this during the year. Yes, he'll give you twenty eight points, he'll have his quarters halbs in moments.
But if Harden.
Isn't scoring, and he wasn't yesterday, you don't get a lot else.
And you saw it against the Nuggets.
In Game seven, where Colin was rough.
I picked Houston to beat the Warriors. I thought, you know, I be honest with you. Athleticism, size and length. I thought it would be a problem. But too often they were reduced to just a half court offensive team, and it is ugly. A Jalen Green doesn't really have a traditional or dependable offensive game. They really if a men, Thompson would not have been so good yesterday, especially in the first three quarters. I don't know if this game would have been close, but they got worked in the half court by Butler, Draymon, Buddy Healed.
And Steph Curry.
Where Colin was right.
I said, before Jimmy Butler got to the Warriors, I don't care what analytics say. He's going to fit. They were under five hundred pre Jimmy Butler, and there were a lot of analytic mavens that said it may not work. Yes it will. He's a bridge between Steph and Draymond Green. He's got the toughness and the physicality and the defensive Draymond. But he can also be a finisher like Steph Curry, and like Draymond Green, he is often at his best when he's backed into a corner and playoff. Jimmy illustration a yesterday Where Colin was wrong. I thought when the Devner Nuggets fired their coach with three games left in the regular season as they were skidding out of control, I thought it was crazy against tylu experienced Clippers, older Clippers, deeper roster.
What are you guys doing? Well? It worked?
Westbrook was a tone center, Jokic was dominant, Murray had you know, typically yets hot and can be streaky.
He was at the right time.
I thought the Clippers face just on having a substitute teacher as a coach, We're going to be a bit over their skis.
But they made great adjustments.
Jokic barking and leading Westbrook playing some of his best, most important basketball of his life.
And I was wrong where Colin was right.
I said, when Texas went to the SEC, guys, you're in trouble. Bama and LSU Old Miss can't play in that space. Just reported that Texas will spend up to forty million on the football roster. That, by the way, does not count the arch manning money. That's a separate deal and the SEC schools, and I think they're feeling it now. And this is why the Big Ten is catching up. Because the Big Ten gets Oregon big money, Washington good money, USC spending huge nil money. Texas just has more bank roll than everybody else in the SEC. In as long as Sark is there, who is a more than capable coach, Texas is going to control this conference.
Where Colin was row well, I.
Picked the Lakers to dismantle the t Wolves because I'm like, I don't trust Julius Randall in the postseason. Who's going to do their scoring outside of ant And it happens that Randall was great and a lot of people did their scoring. The t Wolves were deeper, they had more dexterity and options off the bench, and JJ Reddick I didn't think flourished in this series. I also thought they just kept throwing athletic bodies at Austin Reeves. He was a bit of a no show. I think they should probably move him to get a big But boy was I wrong on that.
Series where Colin was right.
Who's not said this about Austin Reeves.
He can be a four like a Derek White on a championship level team, but if he's a two or of three, you know you're not going.
To beat the best teams in the league.
And he looked overwhelmed in this series against more athletic wings. He shot thirty two percent from three, did not get to the free throw line in the last two games of this series.
Again, he is a good player, but look at all the talent on.
OKC and Minnesota and Cleveland and Indiana and the Celtics to here comes Detroit, Golden State still got it. I just think you have to sometimes be honest about your own players.
Where Colin was right.
Paul Goldschmid of the Yankees about six months ago, I told the staff most underrated player in the last fifteen years, and they said, he made seven All Star teams. How can you say he's underrated? What evs? He is now hitting three forty nine for the first place Yankees. Okay, Aaron Judge is from Mars. I can't explain Aaron Judge. But Paul Goldschmidt as your baseball insider, Okay, wasn't very good for Saint Louis last year, but he is crushing it. I do believe last fifteen years, nobody's been this good and gotten less press than Paul Goldschmith, Colin Wright, Colin wrong. And with that, Matt hasselback eighteen.
Years and the NFL is joining us.
So there was a story out about once you pay a quarterback, you have to make choices. And so the Niners loved Hufungo and they love green Law, but there's a reason they're not on the team. It's because they're getting ready to pay Brock Purty and Hufungo was on like a podcast and he threw a little shade at him and said how much he loved bo Nicks. And my take is quarterbacks don't get as much. Russell Wilson's a historic outlier. Do you think there? It feels like there's a tad animosity. Not because he's getting paid. Nobody's upset that Justin Herbert gets paid or Lamar gets paid or Josh Allen gets paid. But I feel like there's a little bro this is Kyle's team, we're getting rid of Pro bowlers?
Am I wrong on this?
There's a little bit of animosity that Brock's talking mid fifties or his agent is for a contract.
Well, I agree with you in a lot of ways, but I don't think it's specific to this team. Like if you were to be a fly on a wall in the NFLPA meetings in Hawaii or wherever they have him, now, I think you'd hear that sentiment like, hey man, like these quarterback contracts they're just getting out of control. You know that those numbers are just exponentially like multiplying these going up and up and up, and then what we're having in other positions, is we're not seeing that same growth. So you know, that is certainly something that you hear as a player in contract negotiations. I mean, I remember when the Indianapolis Colts at the end of my career, they were getting ready to do Andrew Lux contract.
It was going to be one hundred million dollar deal. They had to create space.
You've seen a lot of teams do that with their franchise guy when they have a guy that they cannot let out the door. They have to make sacrifices elsewhere. I've seen Cincinnati do it. They did basically did it on the defensive side of the ball. So San Francisco they're feeling that pain. They're feeling that real hurt right now, and that's certainly an excuse that they give to the agent. And it's probably being honest. I mean, that's just the nature of it. But I wouldn't be shocked if this is something that does get talked about in the future.
Okay, so I know it's an old guy rant, but I do believe there is a row your own boat quality to my I say this to my kids, this is your life. I was watching a psychologist recently and he said, the more times you solve your kids problems, the worst problem solvers they'll be as adults. Let your kids work through stuff. So yeah, I was getting it. I was talking to my kids this weekend. Maybe that's it. A story about Abdull Carter. Somehow it gets word out that he's like, asked for Lawrence Taylor's number fifty six, the best defensive player in the history of this great sport. That drives me nuts. That bothers me, should it? How do you view it?
Well, I mean, I'm maybe like, get off my lawn even more than you like. I hate the fact that defensive players like Tom Brady said, I hate that the fact that they get to wear.
Single digit numbers or number eleven in the first place. I'm old school that way.
But no, I just I think, listen, I don't listen if you ask, go ahead and ask. I'm upset that it got out now I look like kind of a You know, it's embarrassing that that two different people said no to me, But.
I guess you never know unless you ask.
I think the team probably could have done him a favor and just said, hey, pick whatever number you want. Just see, you know, here are the numbers that we will never say yes to, you know, fifty six being one of them. Right, But when I was in Seattle, listen, it's not a young guy, old guy thing.
Like when I was in Seattle, numbers mean something to players.
Jerry Rice signed with the Seattle Seahawks late in his career. He wanted to where eighty eighty was basically retired because Steve Largent Hall of Fame wide receiver for Seattle, and it was a thing like you know, basically Steve Largent got put in a tough spot. Jerry Rice, the greatest receiver of all time, asked, what are you gonna do? Say no, it's a little bit harder to say no, they're and then he wore eighty.
I was fine with it, The team was fine with it. Jerry obviously was fine with it.
But the fans didn't sit well with some of those old school Kingdome fans like didn't sit well with them.
So it's a tricky thing. But I'm with you.
I guess LT was my guy as well, Collin, so I can relate to that.
By the way, I just want to throw I want to go old school here and again. A lot of times, you know, if you if you're twenty years old or thirty years old, you don't think Michael Jordan ever lost a playoff game. So there is something about the highlight culture. Take our audience just because I mean them how good LT was for people that only watch highlights Because I remember him, I said, when Mike Tyson was in his prime coming up, he intimidated other heavyweight fighters, like Michael speaks.
Is like, I'm not interested. I want to go home and have a bulapasta. I'm out. How great was Lawrence? Do you have a Lawrence Taylor story?
Yeah? I mean I got too many listened.
My dad ended his career on the New York Giants, and you know Mark Bavarro was the starting tight end, so he'd go with the ones against the scout team defense. My dad was the backup tight end. He'd go with the twos against the starting New York Giants defense. It's Carl Banks on one side, it's Lawrence Taylor on the other. So, like, I got more stories than I'm probably allowed to.
Tell about LT.
But he was the kind of guy I would just say, like from my perspective, like when the game was on the line, he did whatever he wanted to do. If he was supposed to blitz, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. If he wasn't, maybe he did, maybe he didn't.
He had that kind of freedom. I remember one time my dad was on the field goal protection team.
They're kicking a game field goal and LT felt like, no, this is too important. He runs out there and kicks off like one of the wings on field goal protection. He was like, no, I'm blocking for this because we need to win this game. He just had that aura about him. He did whatever he wanted, and I think, like even now here we are in twenty twenty five, you hear guys like Bill Parcells or you hear Bill Belichick, they talk about the greatest to ever play, a game changer, they're talking about LT. I mean, he was that kind of a difference maker, a unique talent, a unique teammate, and certainly someone that changed past protection in the NFL the way that they design it. And that's I mean, I don't know what more you could say about a guy. He was incredible.
So let's take Jalen Millroll the Seahawks. I've been told Seattle would like to use him in the red zone, that he's just a unique athlete and team. He's one of those athletes that you can't prepare for. He's just faster than anybody on your team. But right now, if you don't have a contract with the Seahawks, can I get the playbook? What am I doing? You have a quick camp? What is a quarterback that's new to this league? What where are they in the profits?
Now?
Well, that's a couple of different questions there. Number one, they're in this phase of like basically there's all these rules of what you can do with veteran players.
You get it, so you get three phases.
Phase one basically there's no football, it's lifting, its rehabits, studying terminology.
Phase two you get into like.
Maybe throwing on air, there's no defense, some of that kind of stuff.
And then phase three the end of it.
Now we're in seven on seven, nine on seven team drills, eleven on eleven. But I think, uniquely to this situation with Jalen Milroe, what you're going to see is you're going to see a guy that they're going to try to develop. As he's the backup, he's going to be developing and I think that that might even include playing on Sundays so you saw what Kyle Shanahan did. You know Clint Kubiak came from that system. You saw what Kyle Shanahan did a little bit with Trey Lance before he got hurt. Short yardage, goal line and low red Z meaning inside the ten yard line. There will be a package for Jalen Milroe who he is as a runner, also who he is as a quarterback as a thrower. I think they're going to give him a small menu, not a cheesecake factory menu, like a very small menu of things to think about and dominate. And what's what that's going to do is every opponent it's going to have to spend a lot of time thinking about it, planning for it.
And it's time that.
They won't be spending game planning for Sam Darnold and the rest of the guys.
I got to ask you there. You know whatever Aaron Rodgers is going to do, so how long if he goes to Pittsburgh and it's a totally new Arthur Smith's system, how long would it take you ere and Aaron Rodgers to go in And it's it's almost like moving to a new city and driving to your new job where you don't have to think about it. It's rote you've memorized that everything's quick. What is the time that Aaron the latest he could show up and you'd feel like, listen, he's all all working the timing, the audible system. What's the timeline on that the latest eron could go to, say the Steelers.
Well, I'll tell you right now.
I just mentioned the three phases for a veteran quarterback. Phase one feels like a waste of your time, like it sort of does. It's just lifting, Hey, I could lift with my guy where I like to lift, Like that's just kind of the mindset.
There's no football there anyway.
Phase two again like you're throwing the guys on air, not that important. Phase three I think is really important. So for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I believe that's May twenty seventh.
May twenty seventh is the start of phase three.
They also have a mandatory mini camp, which would technically be June tenth. So you know, when is the day that I need to, like all of a sudden, go from speaking Spanish to speaking French. It's not really till week one of the NFL season. Because of who you are, you're Aaron Rodgers. You'll figure it out. You can speak enough to get by. But to me, I think I would circle that May twenty seventh date as a date that like, it would really be detrimental to be starting the missing time at that point right now, Phase one, phase two, I think some guys that have played a long time and understandably so you know, it's a little bit of ticket.
Or leave it by the way.
Every time we talk to you, you're in a cool different place. That's a snazzy looking room. Is that a hotel somewhere?
No, I'm actually my parents' house. So that's actually one of my dad's paintings. But this is my mom's I guess my mom's upstairs. So I am everywhere. I feel like I'm always missing you though you're you're on the road as well.
Your dad was a painter, right, Yeah, he was.
An artist inspired by the sunsets in Colorado. He played in Colorado out in Boulder, So a lot of color, a lot of mountains, a lot of that stuff.
Beautiful. Matt Hasselbeck is always good seeing.
You, Boddy.
Awesome, thanks calling you bet.
May twenty seventh, mark it down for Aaron Rodgers to Pittsburgh.
I don't know.
You know, there is a possibility that he's I saw a story this weekend where Aaron was wearing an engagement ring or a wedding ring er something.
There's a story out there is that he's It's serious.
Is that what the young people are doing? Men are wearing engagement rings?
Well, I don't no, no, no, no, you're right, you're right. He's wearing a ring. Okay, now I'm not saying.
Maybe it's a promise ring. I think guys do that right in high school.
I don't know he's wearing a ring. Aaron Rodgers comes, so I guess he would be married.
Possibly.
I'm just he's very private, so nobody really knows. I think the name is Brianna. I think I saw a story yesterday.
So you know how you can like go into your feet and put in words that you don't want to see. Aaron Rodgers is in my feet, so I don't see any Aaron. I have no idea what he's doing. He could be in Egypt again, he could be on the River Nile right now.
I would have no idea. I'm out on Aaron Rodgers done totally.
Chris Finch t Wolves coach. Next hour, it is the Herd.
One More Heard. The Herd streams twenty four hours a day, seven days a week within the iHeartRadio app. Search Herd to listen live on demand whenever you like.
Iired a very interesting take this weekend on JJ Reddick, the Lakers coach. I was listening to Nick Wright on his podcast, and he said that JJ redickould do great player, but he wasn't great in March Madness.
I don't recall that, but I looked it up and he never wanted to.
He didn't win a title there, which is strange because his teams were good and in the playoffs. I did look up JJ Reddick's playoff numbers and he was notably noticeably less of a shooter in the playoffs. I could argue that's because you play better defenses, but the Knicks argument was he's wound really tight and that hurt him coaching here where there's some rigidity. He's smart enough guy, we know that, but as a player at Duke, player in the NBA coach of the Lakers, he gets really tight in big spots. I don't know if, but generally speaking, if you're tight at home with the kids and a disciplinarian. You probably are at work, so it carries over. I thought it was an interesting theory. I don't know it's right. I do think there is something to be said. I'll to know this that you J Mack, is that a first year coach, the Lakers were very good and intentional in the first quarter. He's very good at constructing a game plan. This is what they are, this is what we are. But the great coach is Steve Kerr and Eric Spolster Greg Popovich are great second half and third quarter coaches. Kerr is known throughout his career. I don't know what the numbers are, but the Warriors have so often in big games been a great third quarter basketball team. They make adjustments, and maybe it's asking a lot for a rookie coach. Jason Kidd's first job to be not only a great practice coach, a great install coach, a great game plan coach. Oh, also you make great adjustments. There's like so many layers to being a great NBA coach and maybe it's just too much to ask JJ as a rookie can't ride with that.
But I did look up the Reddick NCAA tournament, so his senior year, he was a National Player of the Year for every award. Great they lost, and I remember this, and they lost to a big baby Davis Tyrus Thomas. I don't know if you remember that lsut ls and Reddick was three for eighteen shooting. Yeah, it wasn't a good game for him, and they lost. I think I had Duke and my brackets in that sort of it.
Okay, go to the NBA similarly.
Well, but I don't understand how that translate to him as a coach.
Well, no, if you said, if if your wife complained, she never does that, but let's say she did. She does, she has you're impatient, Well you you wouldn't suddenly go to work and be the most patient guy.
Like things carry over.
The things Anne complains about are probably the things I do poorly at work. Right.
So wait, we didn't really get to debate this.
Do you think Reddick was in the wrong playing his starters for the entire second half of a must win game when going when the options on the bench were gave Vincent No, dear Vander.
I understood his theory, which is, we don't play until Wednesday. But when one of your guys is notable for not being in great shape, Luca, who has been tired before in the playoffs, and Lebron's forty probably not the roster.
To do it.
Now.
It'd be one thing if you actually used your bench, but he had decided early in the series, I'm not playing Jackson Hayes.
Play seven, trust six. He played six and trusted five. He may have played five and trusted three. So the point was you were getting nothing from Austin Reeves at that point. You were Lebron wasn't getting younger, Luca wasn't and JJ Reddick knew this because he said at the minute the series was over.
He knew Luca wasn't in great shape.
And JJ had told you, I don't trust my bench, So to do that if Chris Finch would have done that and then Wednesday knowing it was just a moment one of my guys was sick another one that was a bad matchup. But when you when you've already shown your hand like I just don't trust my bench, and you've got an old guy and a guy not in great shape and Austin's not playing well, that is a coaching mistake.
Well, but the counter is he did send Gabe Vincent to check in with a minute left in the third we had a Lakers beat writer on Friday, Vincent went to the table. There was just no stoppage, so he didn't actually get in the game, so he tried to sub. And the counter is they were up to with ninety seconds left after an Austin Ree's three. They led that game by two. At the end, they just they kind of folded.
Down in the final.
Again, it's so easy to do what we do and criticize it, but it had never been done in the history of the sport in the playoffs.
That that doesn't mean it's the wrong decision, Like he's thinking brilliant.
Then read our back and Phil Jackson probably would have pat Riley probably would have done it before I think we I ask.
Zinch about this guy, he would have deflect because he's.
JJ Reddick was known as being an impeccable shape before Steph was in the league. Nobody moved without the ball better than JJ Reddick. Yeah, okay, so he's in great shape. So he may look at it and think you're pro athlete.
I did it. JJ was like in Steph shape, and so Luca's.
Not in great shape. And you've decided I'm not playing Jackson Hayes. So you'd already you already had a limited team and you were kind of getting worked in the series because Minnesota had so many bodies.
It was just again, those games were close.
Games three, four, and five were all close games with four minutes or less left, and the Lakers just didn't execute, which you.
Know they threw the team together in February. Maybe we had two hive expected.
It's funny those Clippers Nuggets games were close. You know who did execute? It seems like Denver did a lot of executing late or the paper clips folded as they are wanted.
Yeah, I mean when you can say we played close.
They were down thirty five in Game seven in the third quarter. None of that from the Lakers in game three, four or five. No quit in them, quit in the Clippers.
It's quite quite a consolation prize for the Lakers. Hey, the Yankees made the wild card. That doesn't that's not good enough for the Yankees playing. You know, we gave you we had no quit in us. That works for the Magic, that doesn't work for the Lakers.
I understand that comment. I get it.
That's not good enough championship or bust. Okay, you're not go a title every you're ass the Chiefs. I had to get a dig at those guys.
Sorry, j.
No Turns. This is the hard line. Let's start with.
Your new favorite team in professional sports, the Chicago Bears.
Colin.
Everybody's fired if they got Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams in year two, good draft, solid free agency.
Well, guess what betters are doing the public.
They are all over the bets win total, Bears win total.
Over eight and a half.
Colin, Ninety percent of the bets are on the over eight and a half wins.
Now, are you talking to the wise guys or the fans?
These are actual tickets, so probably a lot of fans. Sixty nine percent of the dollars wagered are on the over, so a lot of fans and some sharp throw the Bears.
But you know, this is my favorite topic we ever do in this time of the year, is the future bets for fans out there, futures the over under bets. They give you, you know, a win total and a half, you bet over under, So the Bears are eight and a half.
I would take the.
Over, knowing knowing the under usually is the better side.
Yeah, it's rare. You never want to tie up your money. I mean you wouldn't. This wouldn't pay out until January of twenty six. Oh, I love you shouldn't either, to spantashy football. Right, Well, no, that, but that draft is until like September, Colin. If the quarterback goes out and this is four weeks, they went in a win total over That's why I don't love these That being said, can we just wait for the schedule to come.
Out in like ten days. I'm just telling you maybe.
It's less than that, Colin, this is gonna be the toughest schedule in the NFL.
Please don't tie up your money.
How's a fourth place team gonna have the toughest schedule?
Only, well, we have the opponents and when you you.
Read them to me last week and they weren't that, you're gonna go like one in eight ring them again to be already.
Now, I got to call him up.
So by the way, like one of the teams he threw out there in Francisco, they were terrible last year.
That was last year.
They're gonna be good this year.
Right here are the Bears home and road in the pause after you say that.
Okay, at home, then we'll go with the division. Detroit Green Bay Minnesota.
Okay, that's fine.
Next at home they get the Cowboys, win the win, they get the New York Giants when Cleveland Brown wins. To get tough when well, we don't know that's three. You're telling me it's the toughest schedule the league at all.
Does gave me time? Domato's offiting you up.
The Pittsburgh Steelers in wow, we don't even know if Rogers is the quarterback. Yeah, and the New Orleans Saints. God, the toughest times out. That's the home schedule.
Well have but look on the first of all, that's the easiest home schedule in the league.
Well except they're gonna probably lose two or three in the division.
But okay, on the road Detroit Green.
Bay Minnesota, that's lost lost loss.
No, that's fine. If you split those ship feed them and home. Give me the tough ones. Now.
Baltimore loss, Okay, that is a loss. Bengals loss.
No have time out, time out, time out the Bengal.
They didn't make the on the screen down, So what the Bears didn't they go look at what Chicago's doneder their roster in the last year and go look, go with the Bengals have done at the Eagles. That's a big loss, Jaydon Daniels, that's a loss loss.
Slow down, Hey, what time is the Niner game?
Because if it did in November and there's an overcast sky, they throw double and they got.
To go to Vegas to play the Raiders, probably a loss. Raiders are improved.
It is insane you're telling me before you started this, I mean, you had this thing being the toughest schedule ever. Then you gave me like seven bad teams at Soldier.
For they played the toughest division in sports. We would agree on them.
No, AFC West is tough.
Okay, give me the.
Under eight and a half. We will do.
Like, hey, why don't we put something real on it, like your membership to a certain.
Blue rule on the show.
If you ever say toughest NFL schedule and the Giants, Browns and Saints are on it, you have to take a day off.
I'm listen, you gotta rehab.
Can I get Friday out?
You don't get to pick the day, Listen, I get it. The Saints, that's that's a win. I'll give you the Saints this hard lys a giant and seven written all over ten and seven. That is me being conservative. It's eight and a half winter. You're just like blowing through that.
Wow, Okay, I mean.
They're gonna you better hope Kleb Williams is ready for that New York Giants.
There are people out there that are not that I like, and they keep telling me Colin he plays hero ball. He has got to stop that stuff. He's good enough to make some of it work. And so I have people I trust and they're like, listen, he is super talented.
Greg coae Se will say that.
But my people that I trust also say he's got to get out of this hero ball thing. You just can't run around with your receivers don't know what you're doing.
Ben Johnson had a quarterback, and God who would just simply drop back and execute that ain't Caleb Williams. There's gonna be a learning curve here. And if they start this schedule like at the Eagles in week two, you know, at Baltimore and week four, I'm telling you it's gonna be a tough season for your boy in Chicago.
Damn.
Was that only the first story. Yeah, well, sorry, we went long there, all right. Next our time, let's go to the Chargers.
They got omar On Hampton, we like him out of UFC and Trey Harris, who's a pretty good receiver early in the draft with the added firepower.
Jim Harball went on The Rich Eisen Show and Colin.
I don't love this quote.
But here we go.
Woke up the other day, Sid got to get Justin Herbert to the Hall of Fame. Oh must get Justin Herbert to the Hall of Fame.
You woke up and said that.
Yeah. Yeah, it's just one of those things that you wake up and kind of like three, three thirty four in the morning, and sometimes that's when your best ideas come.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, you kind of processed that and that that would mean winning a couple of Super Bowls and and there'd be a lot of a lot of people would benefit, you know from that. So that's a worthy goal.
Yeah, well, I think it's a great goal. It's really hard to get to the Super Bowl.
You no, no, no, he said Hall of Fame. He just went past playoffs in Super Bowl. We got to get Justin or Herbert to think Hall of Faith It's nice to have a coach and a mentor that thinks aspirationally.
I like that.
I all the fame.
Can Justin Herbert win a playoff game before getting his bus ready for Canton?
Well?
I like Herber more than anybody.
No, we both love him.
Can he win a playoff.
Game before we mentioned hall of fame? That's just all I ask. It's not a big ask.
Is that fair?
Sure?
All right?
Final story calls to the NBA. Listen Giannis. Okay, we've got our staff. I have him on Yannis alert right now. It's basically I think he's a goner. He's going to be gone somewhere. The Bucks say they will not be trading him unless he asks out.
They have now lost in the first round three straight years.
I think Giannis is like one to nine in his last ten playoff games.
Something crazy.
Well, of course he went on Instagram and posted look at his picture.
Now he's probably like, oh, that's other big. But if you look at the top, there's a song.
This is apparently a Greek song, and they translated the lyrics because they're.
Nervous in Milwaukee.
The lyrics say, am I selfish? Sometimes I don't think about how you will feel. I chase the record. That's how the sport has me. I want a championship, one for every year of my presence.
Does that sound like a guy that's a popular song in Greece?
I guess does that sound like a guy who wants to stay in Milwaukee?
Those are weird lyrics for a popular song.
This is his He's laying the groundwork.
No, he's over in Milwaukee. The question is where does Yiannis go? Houston's in play. I think Boston's going to be in play.
Is abba from Greece? I think that's I.
Think there's like Norway or Sweden or something.
But by the way, I'm fascinated by this because Giannis is still in his prime. He had an unbelievable season that would have been MVP in like eighty.
Percent of the year.
You and I suggested two years ago, like it's over, you're too old, You're not a championship team.
We were ridiculed. The problem is you're doing this late.
Now.
The good news is he had a great series. So the shooters are gonna line up. Houston's gonna make it happen. They can give you Shen Goon, Jabari Smith and a bunch of picks.
Is that enough?
No?
I mean you probably got to give three to four players.
I'll tell you right now, I'm in Thompson. I ain't trade.
No, no, no, I'm not touching him.
You can't.
I'll drive Jalen Green.
There's hard that's pretty critical and men Thompson is that guy's a big time. When that guy can shoot a three, it's over. Get him, get him a shot. Doctor, come out to LA.
I got a couple shooters I work with because I'm trying to work on my game. Amen, come on down, we'll get in the lab. Well, he's an all NBA players.
You can't touch him. They wouldn't want to move Shangoon. But I'm not making the deal without it.
I would trade Hindu.
Yeah, he was being guarded by pods last night and not scoring.
He's a good player, player, good player, he's an all star.
But if if you could get a couple of their young players, I mean Jalen Green, they give up in a second. Yeah, you can see Udoka gets very frustrated with him, like body line.
I don't ever get that look from you though here on the.
Show used to you were too busy rereading scripts head down on the paper, man, I believe me.
There was a lot of eye rolling over here. Yeah, boy, jmck with the news.
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by The Herd Line News.
There is all sorts of stuff here, man, We got stuff going on here.
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So for years and years, I've said this about Russell Westbrook, that he had only one speed.
He was out of control.
I'm not a huge fan of six to four and underguards that are not great shooters, but I also believe that people adapt and evolve, and Westbrook, in his role in Denver, has I think been incredibly important. He was what the Clippers needed, which was like leadership and intensity. And you know, James Harden's this great natural offensive player. But if Harden's not scoring, what do you get Westbrook? You get defense and rebounding, and now he's scoring an intensity, He's just he's a tone setter, which usually the tone setter is a star. So I've been critical of Westbrook for years. I thought, whatever's happened with his shot from the corner. He looks very comfortable. I think he you know, I had said for years it's like turn the governor down. He's got one speed, he's going a million miles an hour. But his self awareness now on what he provides is fascinating. I thought he was just huge in this series. And it's ironic his former team could have used Russell Westbrook his energy and leadership and tone setting because Harden had a couple of games he didn't even show up. But I love what Russ said after. He's so likable now and here he is.
You know, as as much as people may not think, I'm very smart and I understand the game, I understand what's going on.
So I am thinking, you know, my ability to be able to be.
A force of nature on the floor is what I pride myself phone. So whatever that looks like, it may be a turnover, it may be a misshot, but it may be a steal, maybe a dunk, maybe a mystery, maybe a may three.
It's gonna be all of that.
It's gonna be everything, and it is.
But there is something to be said in a seven game playoff series, and frankly during the regular season.
It's a long season.
There are very few players, Amen Thompson has this, that are just play hard every minute they're on the floor. Amen Thompson of Houston has this. It's Draymond Green has this, Westbrook has it. Russell just plays hard. And a lot of times in these playoffs series, I mean a lot of these older teams struggled. And there's there's some guys for Denver that have been around this legue. While one of them being Russell, he played with so much energy, you know, and I mean Denver needed everybody. Denver should not have won the series. They got the interim coach against Tylou I maybe I'm wrong on this. I think the Clippers one through twelve have more good players. I mean, Kawhi Leonard on any night was the first or second best player on the floor. When Harden's hitting, he's the second or third best player. And yet Denver did it, and you got to give Westbrook credit. It's not all about points like that. Draymond Green and Amen Thompson are great examples those guys. It's not just filling up the box score. There is something about being an irritant and his leverage and his tenacity, and he's just kind of a relentless athlete. And it's like, if you're guarding Westbrook, it's you're in for a night because he's gonna go. He is shifting in a fourth gear, he is zero to sixty minute one of the game, and I just you know, I've been critical of him before, but we got to be fair in this business. The fact that he now just sort of owns who he is. And by the way, reportedly this was the problem in Denver. The coach was like, I want Westbrook on the floor. The guy's instant energy. And the GM's like, well, I want to play the draft picks, and Malone's like, forget the draft picks.
Look what he does. Well. Malone may not be the coach, but he was right. He is just.
He's just an important dude. And then there and again, they're these guys that have been around Draymond Green's one of these these these game sevens, they are just different than than anything else in the league. They're just, I mean, not a shock that like a Westbrook and a yokicch win a game seven, or a cur and a Curry and a Draymond winning Game seven here's Draymond on that game seven win and how it's different.
I powered way too much last game. So spend the last two days embarrassed just at what I what I gave to the game, what I gave to the world. I was embarrassed. So I've been dying since the last game ended to get out on the floor and prove who I am. You know one thing about this league, You're never done proven who you are until you're done completely finished.
Yeah, So Draymond Green self awareness. I was embarrassed. I've got to do better. Russell Westbrook, Hey man, I'm different, and I think you know. It sounds like he lacks humility, but he is a force of nature. That's what Russell is. And again, this young kid for the Houston Rockets, this Amen Thompson. When that dude learns to hit a three, watch out. The league's in trouble because there are guys in this sport that just nobody wants to have to guard or be guarded by. And Westbrook is is. I wouldn't have guessed this. He's aging really well. I thought like he would just kind of fizzle out and wear people out. Maybe it's Denver, maybe it's the fifth. I don't know what it is, but Westbrook works in Denver. This thing works, and it's fun to watch, and it's funny to listen to it. J Mac, if you could be a spark plug like that, every team in this Manhattan beach would be trying to race.
Can we just listen? Westbrook is a fun story. Can we just pump the brakes? Maybe it was a good series.
Did you see the stat that the Clippers were giving him nine feet on the three point? They were backing off. Hey, we'll give you any shot you want. We're gonna pack the labe.
How that work out?
He made a couple of shots. You think that's gonna continue against it and make a couple shots? He here?
Which is out?
He had?
Well, his stroke looks a little different. He doesn't look as tight.
I'm not again, I'm not a shooting coach, but he looked very loose shooting those threes, very comfortable from the car.
It is pretty easy when you got yo kitchen.
Murray and you're getting wide open looks. I don't I could have I could have shot thirty three percent on threes.
I don't think that's playoff aims. Anything's easy. You got to give Westbrook credit. He had a really good series. He did, he did, he had, and he's rebounding. He gave listen, man, the dude's got a little Swiss army.
Now he's given you a lot of stuff.
Thunder and five, No, no, no, no, no, Denverse to denverse too talented
