First Things First - Cape Verde draws Spain, Knicks have 4th-best title odds, King of the Hill, What is Wemby’s ceiling?

Episode Date: June 16, 2026

(0:00) Wemby’s ceiling, Knicks have 4th-best title odds, Spain draws Cape Verde (26:56) Will Giannis sign with the Celtics or Heat? (37:42) Should the Spurs run it back? (45:17) King of the Hill (01:03:22) France expectations, Will Argentina win the World Cup?  (01:18:17) Brendan Sorsby enters Supplemental Draft Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Activia. You might already be eating yogurt, but not all yogurts are created equal. Activia contains over one billion probiotics per serving to survive and reach the gut alive. When it comes to gut health, Activia is the number one family doctor-recommended probiotic yogurt brand. Choose Activia. Feel good from the inside out. Visitactivia.comia. For example, Zia, he makes his first save of the game. That could have been a long word for Caperna. Roderick, Cuccarea back door.

Rosina stayed at home. Cucuraya, back into the middle. When you're not creating a lot of chances, why not play direct? Entry does just that. Header. A touchdown from Bozania. Reporting yesterday, echoing the report to some overseas,

he's about to make a big move. Oh, it's going to come into the middle. And Gozania. He's right on the right place at the right time. That was Fabian Ruiz, Ruiz, who had the free header. And he put it right at Nozina. Here comes to Calgary for Spain.

Laminia Moll. Because of his ability on the, Now you have to over-commit what they weren't doing before. They've got three players against him, and there's one done already. Inside for Yorenti, surveys the options, right of Bozina. That was Marino, look like. Indeed it was. Sixth save for Bozina.

Raminia Mall on Willie Sommato. Early cross-in, Marino, popped straight in the air. Rosini stays at home. Cupero Reyes, heads it right at Bozina. Everyone back for Cape Verde. It's hooked into the near. It's all right. This is a win.

And look, they're celebrating. It's over. It's over. Live from New York, it's the show that's not spending any more money on Legos for a while. I'll tell you that much, those expensive Legos. You want my neck brazening? Yikes, I'm sorry. It's a double whammy.

Yikes. I want to say to the audience on the front end today. Okay. If I seem a little off or lightheaded today, it's not because of the financial. loss and betting Spain on the money. You know? It's because to offset the financial loss this morning before the show, I donated some plasma.

And I'm a little, a little losing. I haven't had to do that since college. I think that's a true story. Not the one about this morning, but I think the college one, you're like, yeah, of course. Of course is a true story. Just get a bunch of nicotine-filled blood.

I'm like, what the heck? I'm sick, and now I'm addicted to cigarettes. First hour, first things first today. The Knicks celebrate, but are they already being disrespected for next year? Quickly. Meanwhile, jam-packed day of soccer on Fox. Which superstar, Messi, Mbapé, Nivelle, Erling Holland will shine the brightest. And finally, how high has Wembe climbed on a fresh episode of King of the Hill with a bonus episode coming up?

Coming up in about five minutes. It's a bonus episode of a segment slash a show that Nick made up. And he's going to try to jam into a five minute segment. It could be a whole month long worth of programming. I'm putting the extra work because I'm going to file for some overtime with Fox HR. See if I get that time and a half. Christmas art, Kevin Wilde. We're starting New York parade on Thursday.

Nick's players taking their victory lap around the city. But Vegas already ready to move on, brew. Next year's championship odds, spurs at the top. Thunder at two, Celtics at three, and the Knicks not on the metal stand at four. You might be thinking, hey, they should repeat. That's what I always like to think. Problem is no one does anymore. Last eight NBA champs, Knicks, Thunders, Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, Bucks, Lakers, and the Raptors.

It goes all the way back to the Raptors. It's the longest streak of having different champs every year. Ever? That's ever? Holy cow. Okay. Is this disrespectful to the Knicks? I think it's disrespectful to the Eastern Conference as a whole.

Because Spurs, I'm worried less about the order and more about the delta between. The Spurs and Thunder are just massive favorites and then a big gap. And then the Celtics and the Knicks cumulatively. And I just think that's wrong. I do not believe in the big bad Western conference as far as likelihood of winning the title. I do believe it's the tougher conference, but I actually think that works against the Spurs and the Thuner. I think that the best teams in the West are more likely to get clipped early in the playoffs and are more likely to be battered and bruised by the time they get to the finals. Now, I know that's a little recency bias because that is what just has.

happened. But I just, I think that Minnesota is underrated in this spot. I think there are, you know, there are teams in the West that you could see going on a run. And I don't, I don't think that the Spurs and Thunder are just a clear cut above everyone else. And I do feel like this playoffs demonstrated that. The Thunder, you know, lost and the Spurs, they didn't, struggle on they didn't have a cakewalk series except for round one round two

they went six games with a tough series with a timbrel's team that wasn't fully all obviously round three they go the full seven and round and the finals they get beat soundly so I am not I don't think just because the Knicks won the title they should be the favorites definitively but

I do think that they should have roughly the same odds as the best teams in the West because, and I don't know how you feel, Brew, I don't think if the Thunder made the finals, like they would have definitely. Yeah, they would have

beaten the Knicks, especially in the shape they were in. Yeah, so you're going by the numbers. I'm kind of just going more by the order. I think the Knicks should look at it as disrespect. Whether we determine it is or not, they should view it that way. All right. And here's why.

You said it, you alluded to it. The last three winners, OKC, Boston, and Denver, and four of the last five, you had Golden State in there, and then Milwaukee. So four of the last five minus Golden State, most people thought,

I don't know what the odds were, but it felt like, oh, they're going to repeat. Certainly the last three. People looked at, oh, is Yolk is going to run off a dynasty? Is Boston going to run off a dynasty? OKC, it's going to be a dynasty. And now of a sudden the Knicks win it, And it's like, yeah, no dynasty.

All right. So they should look at it as disrespectful. And because of that reason, it is slightly. Because like I said, all these other teams people thought would repeat. But only slightly. I think the Spurs should be the favorite. And I think they are because everybody understands they're not a finished product. Like their three best players are all going to get significantly.

better. We certainly believe they will. They're so young. And so there's that. And this like I said before, this series, the way they lost to the Knicks is going to help them. We saw it with the Knicks. A year ago, the Knicks lost in six

to a fourth seed in the Eastern Conference Finals with home court advantage. They didn't look all that mentally tough last year in the playoffs. They struggled with Detroit in the first round that a series that maybe could have went either way. It was really tough and they learned from it and now this postseason.

Yeah, yeah. But had a good coach too, though. But this year they were mentally tough and I think people expect that jump from them. I don't mind the Thunder being number two. I think though the Celtics ahead of the Knicks is disrespectful. And I get people thinking, okay, Tatum's going to be there a full year. They should be better. But look, the Knicks handled them fairly.

I wouldn't say easily, but last time they met in the playoffs, the Knicks handled them. And then this year, the Celtics go out in the first round to a mediocre Philly team that the Knicks destroyed. Can I say some of the Celtics odds real quick? Because I do think that there are some Spurs elements that we're going to get into later in the show. I think that Celtics, I think there is no chance that Celtics enter the season with those finals odds. I think that six to one is a hedge because if they turn it. for Janus, I think they go to four to one, and if they don't, I think they drop to eight to one. So I think that you're saying what I mean.

I think that they're trying to split the difference on. No, if they trade for Janus, I think that they get much closer to the Thunder. And if they, if it comes out, they're not trading for Janus. I think they fall behind the nix. You don't think they would pop up to number one with Janus? No, because of the Western. No, I think it would. I think the Spurs and Thunder would stay where they're at, and the Celtics would be probably plus

300 to plus 400, but I think if we found out that the heat traded for Janus Bru, then I think what would happen is we would get, they would fall behind the Knicks. Yeah, the Celtics would fall behind. I'll change this to the, or the Celtics with Janus being disrespected.

Wembe is anxious to get back to the finals, but will he? After he was eliminated, he set his sights on getting back saying, what I'm pissed about is there's probably a hundred games before he can get back to the finals. I don't know how to say it in English, but I'm going to have to Hold that inside of me, slow down, wait and execute for 100 games.

Did the final- Minimum. That is an interesting thought because now they're S-Bob. Yeah, 100 games minimum. And he's saying it's going to be 100. Did the finals change your career expectations for Wembe? Zoom way out. No, no. Now, look, he still has goat potential.

Potential. Doesn't mean he'll reach it or his ceiling, if you will, is the goat. I've never said he's going to reach it. I said he has the potential to and we'll see. But that potential is still there. This has not changed my mind because when we talk about the goat, and you said the other day, Nick, that if he doesn't win this series or if they lose it,

he will be off the goat trajectory. I said he won't be ahead of pace anymore. I said because if he had won it, he would be ahead of pace, in my opinion. There really is no goat trajectory, like pace or whatever. You feel like LeBron's the goat. Yep. LeBron was bad in his first two finals. Didn't win a championship until his ninth year.

All right? I think Jordan's the goat. Jordan didn't win a finals or even reach a finals until his seventh year. Yep. All right. Kareem won it. He's the only other guy kind of in the conversation. He won it his second year.

But then went eight years without, or nine years. I'm sorry, nine years without winning a championship or getting to the fight. Oh, he got there. Yeah, without winning a championship. But two years of those nine, he missed the playoffs. Yep. Like if that were to happen to Wimby, we would be, you know, within those nine years, you're saying there's no way.

So it's no real goat trajectory. So you just look at the players' talent, potential, ability, and that's how you determine if somebody's goat potential. So I don't think that's changed. We all know, I mean, we've talked that. nauseam about what he needs to improve. That's right. The strength, the stamina, the low post skills.

But all of that is still there. What we can't forget, and I think you really are stickler for going, you shouldn't be punished for going further in the playoffs. Yes. This Spurs team, people got to remember, they're way ahead of schedule. And Wimby's ahead of schedule. A year ago, Wimby sat missed half the season with a blizzard. blood clotting his shoulder.

And so now all of a sudden he's probably going to be the MVP favorite next year. The team missed the playoffs last year. The best predictions for them were playing team. And now they beat the defending champion and get to the final. So they're way ahead of schedule as a team. Obviously he's their star player. So I say the one thing that did change a little for me is it's going to be harder for him to dominate the league.

He's going to be one of the best player or one of the best players. But for him to, he's not going to, it's going to be tough for him for him to dominate it than I thought. Okay. And I saw that in the finals and the conference finals, just the physical play. He's really going to have to work and improve to dominate the way I kind of expect to. So, and you're a hundred percent right that one of my, like, fundamental sports beliefs is there should never be a scenario where him winning that game seven against the thunder

is bad for him. It was though. No, I know you feel that way. I know you don't feel that. If he was great and lost that game, it probably would be higher. He wouldn't have banners meet up. Definitely. It's out of shape. You might. So what I was going to say is, while I don't think it should ever hurt your where, how we feel about you, it can, in what we know about you. You know what I mean? Like some of these, the things you're saying that he, you know, it's going to be harder to dominate, things he needs to work on.

We now have more data points for it and more evidence of that. So I feel like his ceiling is not lowered. His ceiling is the same. His likelihood of reaching the ceiling to me because of some concerns I have that were really a spotlight was shined on them is a touch lower. and I've made a it was going to be a pie it was going to be a pie but we couldn't

do the we couldn't format the pie but this equals 100%. So this is the odds of where Wimby ends up broken down and I will go through it as quickly as I can before we do it I put basically

there is a graphic yeah there is a graphic historical ranking and big man comp like big man in that ranking you know, field. And we'll go from worse to best. Again, this should be a full 90-minute podcast. I'm going to really have to-

I love this. At number, the ninth spot, the lowest spot, outside the top 50, a 2% chance. And that's Dwight Howard, you know, ranking. And that's really just the injury part. I'm going to give a 2% chance that he never,

you know, that never gets there. And still Hall of Fame. He's still Hall of Fame. You know what I mean? In the 40s, 5% chance, and I put Bill Walton has, you know, some, and again, that's also injury-related. And these are all-players or just Bigman? It's Big men, but the ranking is all-players. Like top 40 all-time player, I'm using Big Man.

You know, has the type of peak Walton did. Best player in the league wins a championship, wins an MVP, but it's so brief. So I put that about a 5% chance. 10% chance. He ends up in the top 30s like Patrick Ewing. And that is just probably doesn't quite dominate the way we thought he would, but has a nice, long, healthy career. A 20% chance he ends up in the top 20s like David Robinson. And this is where it gets really interesting and where I want to see where you land.

25% chance. He finishes somewhere in the teens. Around the neighborhood, Nikola Yokic, we believe is going to finish. at least is right now. A 25% chance he finishes somewhere in that very bottom part of the top 10, right where we have

Akeem or I could have put Shaq, but Akeem is the guy that we usually use. An 8% chance he's better than Akeem and Shaq and those guys and in the Dunkin Range. And then I give him a 3% chance

of top three nudging Kareem or Michael or LeBron, whoever you have third in your top three out, and a 2% chance of being the greatest player of all time. And I put the go-to-moji rather than trying to argue. I was like, put LeBron, put a go-to-mogyn just put a go-to-moj. So the other thing I will say is, so that would be 25-20. So I'm giving him like a 60 plus percent chance of being teens or better.

You know what I mean if you add all that up. I'm giving him a 35-ish percent chance of being a chemoajuan or better, but only around a 13 percent chance of being firmly, definitively top 10 player. I think that's fair, and I think it's, really good. You know, informed or whatever from what we've seen. Does that strike you as too pessimistic, too optimistic any of the above? No, it's solid. I mean, like I said, he's going to have to work to.

get to where we think he could go. Like, I think if he, I mean, and again, we have to see him because he's got to work harder and get that postgame. What I saw in the playoffs, like I didn't think today's NBA was physical enough for him to really, for his lack of a postgame and lack of strength to be a problem. And it isn't in a regular season. But in the playoffs, they really let him play. I mean, it was darn near 80s and 90s physicality.

And that's where you saw, okay, he's really got to improve on these things. So that's what I like, we agreed on his likelihood of or chances of becoming the gold or whatever. It's going to be a little tougher, a lot tougher than I thought it would be. And not that I thought he'd definitely be the goat, but, you know, just the potential is there. Can I ask you a question when you were your sort of etymology, I guess, or on building all of that? He's tall. Yes. But there's several games where we were just imploring him to go into the paint.

Correct. Very few guys, if we were doing this show in the 70s and 80s, we'd like, you know what, Kim Iliguan needs to get in the paint. It was just Ralph Samson. Yeah. So, like the only comp. Did you consider, like, are we viewing him through the wrong lens? Should we view him through, like, a Durant lens who occasionally, like, attacks the basket? I mean, I think that's who he wants to be offensively.

And where Brue and I think where KW and I disagree with you, Bru is, I don't think he's a great shooter. I think he is. Well, great might be, but I think he's a really good shoot. And we'll become much. So I think maybe he will become, I don't know what he'll become. I don't think he's a really good shooter for the NBA. I think he's a really good shooter for his size, but I don't think, I think he is, he's been in the league, you know, let's just use this year, let's not even use the first few years.

He was dead in the average of NBA players in three-point attempts. He is, and I don't know that his average three-pointer is tougher or easier than the average player. you know, they shoot 34%, but every single one of those, the other team is begging them to shoot, so they're actually worse than that, and some guys shoot 39% and every single one is super contested. I think he fancies himself a better shooter than he is, and I think that if he does not,

he needs to either become dramatically stronger, dramatically better with his footwork or a dramatically better shooter. One of those three he must accomplish to become a consistently great offensive player. He doesn't have to accomplish all three. He might not even need to accomplish two of them, but he has to accomplish one of those three.

I have a graphic that we'll show because the feeling, like I think now after obviously a disappointing finals, there's a view. it's too low of him. Like these are his regular season numbers and his playoff numbers minus the two games he left early concussion

ejection. It doesn't feel like that. But that's the way. It does feel like that's because we just came off the finals. For the full playoffs. So you see he was great. He leveled up. Yeah. He did probably arguably a little bit better when you look at the blocks at least

in the regular season. But yeah, I think dramatically like when I look at his shooting, I'm looking at his form. He does have great form. And he's also a great free throw shooter. Yes. And that, so that shows you that he has, he's a good shooter, just a pure, not pure shooter,

but he's a good shooter. And he certainly has the ability, the free throw, the, where I agree with you on the free throws is, it shows a fundamental nature of his jump shot where you expect it to improve. But I'm just saying as far as what he's at this point, he is. in a spot where when he takes a three, the other team, I think, feels let off the whole. Well, because of his height. I mean, like, he offensively too often, he plays like he's six, five instead of seven five.

All right. Headed to the World Cup, upset of the tournament. Cape Verde draws with Spain, courtesy of a shutout from Cape Verde's 40-year-old and now Instagram famous goaltender, Zena. Here's Clint Dempsey on the historic draw. You got to go out and play the game, and the opponent that's in front of of you and take nothing away from what Cape Verde did. They had, Spain still had their chances to win this game.

They didn't put it away. They need to be more clinical. They're going to go back to the drawing board, look at tape, and maybe this is something that's going to fire them up, like what happened with Argentina versus Saudi Arabia, that little kick up the backside to let you know that you're not as good as what you thought you are and humbles you a little bit and makes you a little bit more hungry to go out with a point to prove.

So Spain is one of the favorites to win the entire World Cup. Here are the last four World Cup champions. Argentina lost their opening round game to Saudi Arabia. France beat Australia, but it was close. Germany crushed Portugal. And then Spain, again, lost to Switzerland, won nothing. So two of the last four champions straight up lost. If Spain were to win, this draw, we'd look back and say, hey, no big deal.

Nevertheless, should they be worried? Yeah, I mean, they can lean on the Argentina fact and lean on their own history. And while Saudi Arabia in last year's tournament was a huge underdog, the last World Cup Army is a huge underdog, none of those are

comparable to losing, to drawing with Cape Verde. And, you know, there is a reason that they were minus 1,400 favorites in the morning. And I obviously, you know, overestimated Spain's ability to take care of business.

But the closest comp in this tournament to Cape Verde is Curacao. Yeah. And Curacao lost 7 to 1. It was close for a second. And it was, I am not Brue going to write them off. They were the favorites going into the tournament. You know, now they're the second favorites to France or there's, you know, the, but this is

as big of a warning sign as a huge favorite can possibly have. Now, Argentina got that last year. Saudi Arabia and they never lost again. But I would be very anxious if I were a Spanish supporter. Yeah, I'm not as concerned. You mentioned last year, Argentina, in 2010, last time Spain won, they lost the first game. Remember, this wasn't a loss. It feels like it, but it was a draw.

And Spain has only won four of their previous, before this game, 15 World Cup Openers. Like they, for whatever reason, they start slow. Feel out game. So my two concerns, though, are this. One, I felt like even without Yamal, they can roll. Not just in this game, but period. Like, they're really strong.

They didn't look nearly as good without him as I suspected they would. And then, you know, Nico Williams, he's also hurt. So those two injuries, Yamal, and I get it. that they played a little bit yesterday. And, you know, but it's, those injuries concern me because a hamstring could pop up, you know, re-aggravate it. And so those are the things, like not looking as good without Yamal as I expected them to look. And then just having to be concerned about the hamstrings of Williams and Yamal.

So, but I think they'll be fine, but those are concerns now. First announcement of the World Cup, second, my second real prediction. Spain's not winning the World Cup. Well, that doesn't even count as a prediction. You didn't put you. You can't just say a, there was a 48 team tournament. This team's not winning it. One.

Okay, you want another one? Curacao also not winning. All right. Is Janis teaming up with Tatum? That's next on FS1. And we're counting down to France, Senegal, just across the Hudson River. 3 p.m. today on Fox. Second time these teams have faced off to open the World Cup.

What happened last time? Senegal won the match, won nothing in South Korea. Coach of Senegal on that team as a player. Guess what? I'm running it back. No, no, I don't know. I'm running back to France. That's your team.

That's your team, isn't it, KW? France? Yeah. We're team France today. Did you see my outfit this morning? No. It was French. The excitement of the FIFA World Cup is now streaming live on Fox One,

the official English streaming platform to catch every unforgettable moment. Fox 1 brings the action straight to your screen so you never miss a goal. Download Fox 1 and experience the FIFA World Cup Live. Welcome back to First things first. Oh my goodness. The home of champions. Boston Stadium. Yeah.

There it is. Boston. A lot of trees there. It's beautiful. Near Foxborough. Some people would say it's in Foxborough, but officially for World Cup is a Boston stadium. Norway and Erling Holland. taking on Iraq today at six on Fox.

Norway is the heaviest favorites of the day. We had four draws yesterday. I know. Got to have some favorites winning. Well, we're going to have some goals being scored. I might, seven hours we're off. Do you know, hold on, I'm going to drive up there. Do you know what Iraq soccer team is called?

It almost made me switch. I saw the Lions of Mesopotamia. Yes. I saw the Lions of Mesopotamia. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I love that. Unreal.

I do like that lot. A lion's a mess of the same. Another superstar might be headed to Boston. Janice has the Celtics and the heat as the two teams he's willing to extend with according to Wemby. I'm going to Wemby. Windy. Windy is not reporting. I don't know.

He didn't give some answers in French. I didn't get him translated. Brew, we talked about this on the call. You were. And love it. Why? I just don't understand why Janus, with all due respect to the heat, wants to go to Miami. I mean, obviously it's a great place to live.

It is a strong organization. Eric Spolster is a great coach. But it's going to essentially be Milwaukee South. Now, look, if they trade for him, they got bam. So those are two bigs that don't shoot. shoot, right? Well, Bam scored 83 points. Basically, two big non-shooter starting, which can pose a problem.

Del still, presumably have Norman Powell. I don't think he would go in Milwaukee winning the trade. So he's a very good score, 20 points in game. No shot of winning the title. No, no. And I just don't get it. I'm sorry for Janus. I thought he wanted to go somewhere and win.

Boston makes a lot of sense for Janus. Obviously, we'll see if they decide to do it. If they were to trade Jalen Brown for him, Jason Tatum obviously had the big Achilles injury, and Yonis has been injury prone, but maybe they just need to shake up. And they would have to play totally differently. And you'd have to see if, it'd be good for him.

We'd see if Missoula is down with that. Lastly, I'll say, Nick, I don't know what Houston's thinking. If I were Houston, either I'm getting rid of Kevin Durant or I'm going to get Janice. As long as Durant's there, my time table is now. And Shingun, as they currently are constituted,

they cannot win the West unless all the other great players ahead of them get hurt. They can't. I think that's fair. And Shingoon, if I'm Milwaukee, Shin'un and Reed Shepard is a nice young duo, especially in the East. I know Nick loves the East now.

But in the East, I think that's good. And Janice, Van Vlis and Durant, I'm in Thompson and Jabari Smith, Smith, Van Vleet, and Durant shooters. Like, I would take my chances with that. I don't disagree with you on the Houston part, which is why I'm focused on the actual wording of this report. The only teams that will entertain trading for Janus, I would think, are teams that Janus is willing to extend with. And so I, one of the, my reads on it is Houston's not on that list. And so I don't, the, I think there are fair things to criticize Houston for as far as their team build. But if, you can't trade Shindgoon and Reed Shepard if it's for a one, you can't do, the only team to trade for a Super Sur wasn't willing to extend in recent history was Toronto with Kauai.

But they gave up 30 cents on the dollar. And it got a title. And they got a, right. And then they were like, we'll roll the dice and they got a title. So this is basically a trade demand. you're saying. What I'm saying is... Milwaukee doesn't, to me, though,

quick, they don't have to play with this. They don't have to play ball with Yon. They don't have to, but the... The team... But I'm saying if you say to Yonis, look, now, the Celtics obviously could give them a good package. Yes. But if, let's say they don't like any of the packages

from the team to extend, but they can be like, look, we're not accepting any of this. So you can stay here and be what we've been, or you can look at a Houston or whoever. I understand that, but I think those packages won't be very good if Janus won't extend. So I'm just very, I'm just really disappointed that he's willing to extend with the heat. This is to me mentally in the same bucket as how I felt when some of the greatest golfers in the world went to live. I was asking Josh if there was a, you know, like I know,

Christiano Ronaldo went to the Saudi League, but he was no longer in his prime of someone. Gee whiz. It's. You're really down on the heat, huh? Well, it's just hunting on the rest of your crime. It's just the money. And this to me would be,

why are the heat on the list other than Miami's dope? Okay. Are we sure it's not? Which surprises me that Janus would even, that would even enter his thinking. He wanted to stay in freaking Milwaukee. So I don't know. where this report came from.

But if Janus wants to go to the Celtics, like, look, he's also willing to extend the heat. Is it just a little leverage to make the Celtics? If that's the case, so again, if he ends up in Boston, and that maybe should be as much of a focus as the heat side of it, I think that is awesome for everyone involved. I think the Celtics have now for the fifth offseason of his career, floated Jalen Brown's name and trade rumors.

So if they don't get it done, I think you might, you are already potentially, I think, having a, I don't want to say Jalen Brown problem, but potential Jalen Brown relationship management. I think it's fair that they haven't treated him with the utmost respect that of final Zan. They've not treated him like Jason Tatum, for sure. And while I've defended that, because I think Tatum's a better player, I don't know if Jalen Brown agrees with that sentiment. And so, and to be clear to the audience, I do not think Jalen Brown would be going to Milwaukee. I think it would be a three-team. I think Jalen Brown would be routed to either Atlanta or Portland. Atlanta's in.

And I think because Portland has Milwaukee's picks. They would want that back. Atlanta would make a lot of sense. They have good picks. So those teams would get Jail and Brown and they would send young assets to Milwaukee. I love the idea of Yonison Boston. I love it. I think he can win there.

I think it is a good fit. I think that it is a shake-up they need. I just, Janice has not played in relevant postseason games in years. And I don't think that'd be different in Miami. So, Br, you've kicked this around, so I had Josh make a comp.

You've always talked about Janus having a garnett-esque run in Milwaukee, even though he did win there. Where it's like, hey, it's time to make a move. So this is the comp. That's great. 31 years old games, including the playoffs,

979 for the Bucks for Yannis, 9-74, Garnett. Two MVP's for Yannis, one for Garnett, 10-time All-Star, four first team, all defense. Garnett won defensive player of the year when he was with the Celtics. Yannis already has one. Obviously, it's a little bit different. You know, Paul Celtics hadn't won a championship in a long time. This team, Celtics score has one.

Garnett hadn't won. Yonis has one. But could you see this sort of being a Garnett-esque addition to Boston? Yes, absolutely. Now, when Garnett went to Boston, and it was Ray Allen, Paul Pearson, Garnett, like, I picked them to win the championship that year, and they did. I think that team, that was clearly the best team in the NBA, and I actually think left the title on the table.

Like, they should have won two, at least. This team in Boston would not be that clear, cut head and shoulders above the rest, but they would have a great chance to win the championship without question. And they would be the favorite in the East without, I mean, they're already the favorite according to the odds, but they would definitely be the favorite. I'm surprised you don't have them as the favorites. I didn't say what I would have them. I'm just telling you what I believe. Would you have them as a favorite?

I want to see who that, you know, what the trade is, but I think that here's what I would tell you. We got way too early King of the Hill coming up in 20-ish minutes. Yeah, I'm just glancing. I have a mind. Yeah. It would clearly be as far as just raw player ranking the best duo in the league. Tatum and Janus. Yeah.

It would the, and you, I mean, you could argue right now, Tatum and Brown is the best as far as just, you know, low, you know, best ranking of players combined. Right. But Janus is markedly better than Jalen Brown. And not that much older than Jalen Brown. More of an injury risk. So I think better on defense and take way less threes.

And Yonis has been averaging 30 a game for his whole prime, basically. So the better on offense, too, they're just different. I just really don't want him to go to Miami. And I agree. I think Spolster is one of the best coaches of this era. I think Pat Riley is a legend. I think that is a great organization. But they will have no chance to compete.

And I want to see them playing big games. I didn't realize, sorry, John. I didn't realize Miami is going to get roasted so hard this entire. Listen, is that a tear coming from? That is a rough one. Nick, you should apologize. You guys are going to have some bad social media posts. All right, should the Spurs shake up their roster?

Also, Wemby's favorite World Cup team, France, taking on Senegal across the Hudson River. Could we see another upset here? Senegal unbeaten on their qualifying path to World Cup, seven wins three three. outscored opponent's group, 22 to 3. 3 p.m. on Fox. You're careful. Hours, 18 minutes, and 27 seconds. Old saying, if you're not moving forward, you're falling behind.

Maybe the Spurs are better off just staying put. Nakayas Duncan of Yahoo Sports headline. Do the Spurs need to shake it up why San Antonio shouldn't overreact to NBA finals disappointing? You'll have to excuse me for not thinking the Spurs should blow things up because of their blown leads in the finals, Duncan, right? The leap from last year to this one was too great to overreact in that matter. Should the Spurs run it back?

I think it's totally defensible if they do. If they're like, hey, just the young guys get better. We have the 20th pick of the draft, I think, just that. There are two levers, though, they could pull. One is would be drastic, and it would be... Trey Wembe. No. and it would be about the head coach.

I don't think that's going to happen. I don't necessarily think that that would even be fair. I do think he had a really rough finals. So you think it wouldn't be fair? Fair is probably the wrong word. It would be – this again goes back to what I was saying earlier. There was no chance he was going to get fired if they lost in 7 of the Thunder. So in that regard, it would feel like, gosh, aren't it like a little – I don't know fair is the right word.

The Tibbs thing firing. Like, wow, that was, they had a great year. Yeah, and so there's that. But the other lever they can pull is one, they might not have a choice on whether or not they pull. And that's what they are going to do about Deerrin Fox, because you simply must start Dylan Harper next year. Yes, yes.

And A, is it smart to have a 55 million, dollar a year sixth man. B, is he willing to be? Remember, he picked out San Antonio. He was like, that's where I want to go. Does he want to be a sixth man? And then C, if the answer

to either or both of the first two questions or no, what is Deeran Fox trade value on that contract? Tough one. Where... Coming off that series, on that contract, all of a sudden, like, is that contract

underwater. Like, are you, and so... He's got, I think, three years, $166 million left. No, he's got $4.2.20 because it hasn't... The extension has... It starts next year. So four years 222.

Four years, 22. Could you just blame the high ankle sprain? Like, guess what? I'm a veteran. Yes, you... No, but blame it in what regard. When you send him to the bench? No, if, if... For his underwhelming finals performance.

No, but I'm... Yes, you could, but I'm saying, either way, if he's going to the bench, and does not like that. What do you do? No, I'm sorry. As sort of like, a trade asset? His marketing of like,

look, I was hurt. Yeah, I mean, yes. I mean, that's what they would try to do and what he would try to do. But that, to me, Brew, is the question mark of the team, and I don't have a great answer on it. No, I'm with, I mean, look, the phrase blow things up shouldn't even be

associated with the Spurs. All right. I agree with you. Like, I would keep Mitch Johnson most like, he struggled. There's no doubt about it. I mean, people have talked about, Generally, when I see, now it's the different in today's NBA with the three-point line and stuff.

But when you see a team consistently blowing huge leads, a lot of times that's the coaching. You point to the coach. The players obviously had a lot to do with it, but it's also on the coach. So it'll be interesting to see what they do with that. But I probably wouldn't fire him as a young coach he's going to learn. Quickly, augment the coaching staff? Is that a solution? They need to get a, I don't believe they have a former head coach, like an older former head.

coach on that bench. Now, you have access to pop, but I'd like a head coach on that bench with him, a former head coach. De Aaron Fox is, I agree with you, the interesting thing. I would love to get Drew Holiday for him. But if you're poor, the holiday, now holiday's 36. Interesting. But he averaged 16.6 assists last year for Portland, play well in the playoffs.

He would be just what they need. I love that. I love that. Championship in Boston, championship in Milwaukee. Somehow the defense gets even better. Yeah, like he would be, he is exactly what they need. So maybe, I don't know if Portland's interested in him, but maybe some type of three or four team deal. And I doubt Portland would be they still have Dame and, you know, the young guards.

The other thing, though, I think they could use. I don't think it's essential, but around Wembe, they're small. Like, to me, they essentially start four guards. You know, Harper, Castle, Vassell, and Champany. Champany, six, seven. They got a ton of guys between 6-5 and 6-7. Yeah. Because Carter Bryant is going to be a good player.

He's 6-5, 6-6. They didn't like dominate boards outside of Wembe. No, they need, like, so I'm going to throw a name at you, Nick. It'll be interesting to see your reaction. And he's a free agent. They need a 6-8-6-9 type 3-D guy or forward who can maybe rebound, but shoot the 3. Are you interesting here? It interests me.

Rui Hachamora. Oh, love it. Can shoot the three, six eight, six nine-ish. I love that fit for them. Yeah, and he's a free agent. No, no, I love that fit for them. I thought, because here's a guy that I think they could use.

Mitchell Robinson, who, you know, I think they need, I think they need more backup centers. Like, I think that if you are, the cornet was really, It's really good for them in the regular season and then really struggled in the postseason. But I think that there is a level of even if Wimby's going to play more than there's 29 minutes a game he played this year of wanting to have, if you know, if you're like, hey, Wimby's going to sit for, our plan for next regular season is Wimby's going to play 32 minutes a game. I think there might be a real value to the Spurs emphasizing instead of 16 minutes from our backup center, you know, 10 minutes from our backup and six from our third string. So we always have super high energy, you know, as a five.

So our defenders don't have to adjust as much when Wimby's off the court. As far as the coaching thing, this is not going to happen, but it would be a little poetic. As far as, you know, coach available and we want Wimby to play more. Amazing take. What a take. What a take. What am I going to say? Take of the day.

What am I going to say? What? A guy who was like, guess what? Everyone off the bench. Tom Tiffon. Amazing. Hey, Wimby, you all be tired come to playoff next year. Here are you used to it.

We're going 42. First week of the season. Meaningless game. Wednesday in November. Right. 42. You know who would be letting Wimby get a rest with five minutes left in the finals? Come up.

What? Who's the king of the hill? And we're counting down to France, Senegal. Senegal has never lost a World Cup game when scoring first. Never. Oh, wow. You're really stealing all the fun facts. Lots of.

High facts are fun. This episode is brought to you by L'Oreal Group. Beauty is a powerful force that moves us. That's why L'Oreal Group has built a business that is inclusive at its heart with 100% of its brands, championing diversity. With 25,000 professional opportunities for people under 30 worldwide

and 54% of leading positions held by women, diversity is a strength that helps L'Oreal group create the best beauty products for all people. Visit L'Oreal.com to learn more. Live from New York, is a show that's just out of all the days of the World Cup.

We had Team USA, obviously, on Friday was super exciting, Mexico to start everything. Yesterday was great. All draws, but still super locked in. You had a large wager on Spain. It's all right. It's okay.

Go on to the next one. Today, with all the superstars, might be my favorite day so far. Today is certainly the highest profile day of the tournament so far from a worldwide perspective. Also, game in Boston, game in New York, game in Kansas City. Oh, yeah. I didn't even think about that part. It's great. A lot of champions, if you count.

The Giants from a long time ago. What do you mean the time? You're talking about New York? New York just won a champion. I'm talking about the actual buildings. Oh, in the building. Oh, okay, I got you. We also got to go a long time ago to find the Boston football champion.

Well, I don't actually think we do. Well, it's not, I mean, not this decade. It's not this decade. Super Bowl. Did you win it? Second hour, first thing, first thing. This is a big day. Today, Messy makes his World Cup debut today.

in Kansas City. Can he take his team to back to back titles? Meanwhile, France, Senegal coming up. And Ba'A is closing it on the goals record. Won't get it today. You got to stop cheating off my paper. They won't get it today. We're doing a whole segment on this later. I was very excited to say Miroslav Glossa.

He's the record. You didn't know that. Yes, I did. Oh, yeah, right. Right now, are you in for a real treat? Can't even pronounce West Germany. The finals are all wrapped up, so it's time for a season. special post-finals, way too early edition of the friendliest segment in all of sports,

King of the Hill. 45 guys. Okay. Nine levels. Are you serious? Did you not look in the dock? You've just like, 45 guys. I told you, I'm putting in that O-T.

Put it in that O-T. Five guys. Now, I do want to explain one thing to the audience, because red means they moved down, green means they moved up. Yeah. The template for that. was one year ago this week we did a post 2025 finals king of the hill. Okay. So if you moved up or down based on where we were one year ago today,

additional note, Tatum Halliburton were off that hill because they had the blown Achilles, so they're up just by virtue of being back on the hill, if that makes sense. All right, ninth row, all these guys dropped. Lamello ball, his stock dropped. this season, my opinion, maybe you disagree. Shingoon, dropped a lot. Embed, I don't know what we're going to do about the hell. Harden, rough playoffs. Trey Young, what percent of NBA fans?

NBA fans right now know definitively what team Trey-Jan is on. I'm not sure. Jimmy Butler got hurt. Seacom's team was terrible. I kind of felt bad. What percent of NBA fans know what team Triple J is on right now? We're in the single digits on that one. Gobert could have stayed on level eight.

He could have moved up too. Yeah, he could have. Like, Gobert was the top one. I want to make sure he made the hill. Eight throw, all these guys moved up but one. Dylan Harper, Steph Castle, well, welcome to the Hill. Oh, yeah. Little projection, but was so impressed by their playoff runs as a whole.

Dylan Harper in the finals. Castle had a rough efficiency finals, particularly game five. We didn't even talk about it, one of 10 from the field. But I think future Harper, potential superstar, Castle, Future. future star. Denny Avdia. Awesome season. Jalen Duren, rough post season. But again, a great season to where he moved up from where he was at this time last year. Scotty Barnes had a really good year. Jalen Johnson got his team to the playoffs. Austin Reeves about to get $200 million contract. And J-dub, Jalen Williams, dropped significantly just because the injuries, it's now multiple

years of like some level of injury concern. Seven throw. Is Anthony Davis ever going to play for the Wizards? My money would be no. Really? Yeah, I think he's traded. I think he has traded this offseason. I don't think he's going to line up with the DeBanza timeline. That's a fit.

No, I'm totally fair. Yeah, I think, I think Tray also might get traded. O.G. Welcome to this segment of the Hill. Maybe could be higher. Jamal Murray, bam, despite the eight two points, stay where they are. Evan Mowley dips just a bit. Kyrie, welcome back after injury.

I expect him to beat you He was going to be 18 some months removed from the injury. Chet Am I dips just a bit? Is that too much wimby-based, you know, reactionism? I don't know. He did have a really good year. I debated on that one.

That's another one where if he just had lost, they lost around two to Lakers, no one to kill him to him. Roe six. Kauai had an awesome regular season. His team did not. And he drops a tiny bit. KD had, I don't know how to discuss KD's season other than the fact that he was the best player on a team that he ruined with a burner scandal, in my opinion. And then wasn't available for the playoffs.

So Devin Booker stays where he is. Paolo, I think a bit of a, I think it's fair to say disappointing regular season from the magic and from Palo. Drops a tiny bit. Maxie, on the other hand, I thought, you know, one of the big winners of this. regular season. And Cooper Flagg, yes, this is some projection. I'm okay with the projection. I think Cooper Flagg absolutely expects to be a top 20 player in the league next year. This is spot 16 to 21. Top 15. Donovan stays where he is. Welcome back to Tyrese Halliburton. Nice. I got to have in the top 15. You make the finals with him. The conference finals

the year before, you lose and you have the worst record in basketball. Carl Anthony Towns. This might be his highest spot ever. a full league king of the hill. Because I don't think we've ever looked at him as a top 10 guy. It's top 10 guys above that. Braun and Steph round out your top 15. Now to the top 10. Anthony Edwards, Jason Tatum, welcome back.

Jalen Brown and Cade Cunningham. All those guys except for Tatum had awesome regular seasons. Ants. Ants postseason injuries concerned me a bit this year. The runner's knee thing was just weird. Obviously, he then came back from what looked like a gruesome knee injury, but it's the second time where it doesn't feel like he has finished the season at 100% in the last three years. Top six, SGA.

He was one year ago this week at the top of the hill. He obviously is not that. Lucas stays where he was, and Janus, another kind of. kind of lost season is the only way to put it. He drops a bit. Joker, oh, you know what? I'm wrong. SGA was not at the top of the hill.

SGA was row two, even though he won the championship last year. Because I had Joker at the top of the hill, Joker is in row two, if we can reveal it. Joker drops a bit. And Wimby, again, from where, this time last year, I don't think he was in the top 20, because he had just certainly wasn't in the top 15.

He had the blood clot. He had missed time. He now is somewhere in your top five, you know, somewhere from one through five. I've been different people that have different rankings. But atop the Hill, coming off his finals MVP, and after kind of, like, if you look at how the, not just how their teams did,

but how they individually played as their CIS, and ended. Joker didn't have a great series and lost in round one. Wimby had an awesome playoffs and then I think a really rough NBA finals. SGA had the worst series of his career as a star in the second in the conference finals and then Luke and Janus were injured and not available. Jalen Brunson is for the first time ever atop a full league not just playoff edition of King of the Hill. Not the best player in the league but perfect King of the hill. Are you saying he's the best player in the league? That title is vacant. He's king of the hill. I am saying he's king of the hill. I am saying he's king of the hill.

I got no problem with Jalen being king of the hill right now. It's the least we can do for him and you can do for him. But look, to me, I know what the rule is, but neither you nor I believe the rule. What's the rule? That it's not left to right. So you're putting it. You're putting Put Yokich on that side of Wimby for a reason. So I'm going to switch those two. In fact, I'm going to switch SGA and Yokic. So I'm going to move Wemby over one and then put SGA next to Wemby and Yokch and Roveh and Rove three.

And here's why. Yokic is obviously phenomenal, but he hasn't been past the second round of the playoffs in the last three years, not since they won the championship. This year they got bounced unceremoniously in five by a six seed. I get it. It was Minnesota, a good team, but still, by a six seed with home court advantage. And his defense has gotten significantly worse. Five?

I thought they lost in six, but maybe I'm wrong. I could just be misremenored. Check that, Josh. But his defense also has gotten significantly worse this year than it was in the past. And SGA, I get it. Our last view of him against, you know, Stefan Castle was a tough one. But he did lead.

They ran through the first two rounds without their second best player, Jaylon Williams, and then took, you know, Sir Antonio to seven. Can I respond to each of those? I do think that SGA gets a little additional ding because Brunson did solve Castle in the Spurs defense. Like it was going into the finals. Right, no, exactly. Like going into the finals, a lot of people thought,

look at what they did to Shea, they'll do it to Brunton. I want to ask you one thing about the Yokic Wimby thing. After seeing what Wimby, how he struggled, getting to a spot on the inside and dealing with the Knicks' physicality, that does make me a touch more pessimistic about how he would have fared in a seven-game series with Yokic banging on it.

Like that, just the wearing on him because Joker, to his credit, doesn't get tired, plays these huge minutes, and maybe it's because he never jumps. But he's, you know, like that does, because I know you were worried, I think, about that potential matchup when we thought we were going to get Denver, San Antonio. We never saw it. That is. I think Wembe would have had an easier time offensively against Yoke.

Oh, definitely. You know, so because even that game where Yokich out played it slightly. He had like 30 something. Both of them, yeah, yeah. So I think that would have happened. I also win it. Bonus stick? You know, bonus take.

Honestly. Switch and and Luca. I don't even think that's his bonus sake. That's his real take. They have a whole of graphics for you. No, hey. I forgot. That was just a pre-emnity.

In the docket, I put a smooth whimby and yoga. But yeah, I'm going to, look, Luca's just the injuries. And I get that you could say it for Janus, too. But Luca didn't play in the playoffs this year. last year or two years ago went out in five has had trouble staying healthy with his condition and everything so i'm just going to move and up if i'm going to move aunt up he is it's yonis i can't do luka gets dinged for getting hurt at the end of the year after being a leading MVP candidate winning multiple players of the month and yonis who dealt with more injuries

you know so that's that that that was my struggle is am i really going to have yonis outside of the top six. That didn't feel right to me. But I didn't feel, I don't think Luca's injuries should ding him more this year than Janus's. And I think Luca was, I thought Luca was exceptional this season.

And then got hurt in the worst possible time. I mean, the team had a good record. I mean, he contributed to winning. They had a good record. I've been a little down. You're a little down a little bit. I just think it's hard to build around it. So we'll see this year.

You know, sometimes in business, you just need to sort of ride the, trends just and stick with your product. Like if I had like a protein based, you know, sunscreen, like what is it? Yeah, you'd be like, yeah, I put protein in a sunscreen, you put it on you and you get protein. You'd be like, what is that?

And then, you know, five years goes by and proteins all the rage and next thing you know I sell my protein-based sunscreen. Because proteins the rage, that's the wave that you ride. I think there might have been a better, example available protein based skittles protein's hot right yeah if you if you ate skittles with protein in them yeah you would get protein right bingo yeah good call here's the way that's happening right now if I was sitting back and saying hold on a second my dad was also a journeyman pro and I grew up around the league I'm undersized

Dallas Maverick who might get traded I'm NBA champion with a pension for scoring 40 in the finals even though I'm a defensive liability but I specialize in footwork, mid-range, and just getting buckets, finishing at the rim. Kyrie Irving, riding the Jalen Brunson wave a little bit. Now, hey, being undersized. His godfather was in the NBA, right? Drederickland. Rod strickland.

His dad wasn't. Not the buddy who was in the street. Dad played over. His dad played over. Oh, Australia. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Kyrie might be rooting for the Australian? Oh, team.

Kyrie. I got Kyrie fever from watching a recent like little miniature viral video of it was a high school camp granted. But it was a can you stop Kyrie challenge. The answer is nobody can stop. High school kids pros. So the question is this. Jason Kidd's out. Missy juries in as GM. Again we talk about DeBonce's timeline. Is Kyrie lined up with Cooper Flags timeline or Is this going to be like there's some wolves talk with Kyrie? There's some pistons talks. Like, pistons need a certified bucket on that squad. So Kade doesn't have to score 80% of the team's points.

Do you think Kyrie is going to be on the Mads? What do you see him with the wolves or? I like him as a wild card trade piece. I'll tell you that much. And the wolves, the wolf's thing is really interesting. It is. Just plug him right. Whenever Dante's ready, it's not going to be game one.

And we shouldn't assume. everyone's going to have Tatum's timeline, so he might just be out for the whole year. So he plugs in right there. You have the defensive personnel already to where you can deal with Kyrie's negatives there. It would take a huge burden off of Ann. I like that a lot. I hadn't thought about that. I didn't.

I like that a lot. Yeah. Great idea. And I think Kyrie has really, really remade his maturity image since he's gotten to Dallas in a really positive way. Messy tonight, Algeria in Kansas City. Oh, look at that. What a beautiful city.

You guys were in that building. I know. Several times. I've never been to the modern eatery, but I'd like to go in the next time. We're really showing the mural there. Look at this. Wow.

Look at that. What is that? Calkman Performing Arts Center. That was the place where my wife wanted to get married, but it was a little price. Before we go, so we got Kansas City, Algeria in nine hours and 42 minutes from, do I say Kansas City, Argentina. And before we go here, it's a lot of time with James Ford.

Norway's Erling Harland has the record for the most goals in a single Premier League season. Do you think that you're a better footballer than Erling Harland? Yes. True. England's captain and all-time record goal scorer. Do you think you're a better footballer than Harry Kane? Yes. True.

Tieri Omri is one of the greatest players in the Premier League history and your current Fox co-worker. Do you, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, think that you are a better footballer than Tieri-on-Rae? Yes. True. You share a desk with fellow Fox analysts, Rebecca Lowe, Tieri-Omri, and Alexi Lallas. Do you think a panel of four Zlatans would be better than these four? Yes. Welcome back to first things first.

Dax McCarty here with us to talk about all the superstars that are in action today. And we are counting down to Iraq, Norway, our first look at Erling Holland in this year's World Cup, six hours, 37 minutes, and 26 seconds from Phoenix Boston Stadium. Iraq has never led in a world. Holland's never played in the world. Holland the country has. Holland, the country has. Early Holland.

That place is Norway. Norway has not. Holland, which is the Netherlands, plays a lot. Top performance presented by Capital One. Capital One. What's in your wallet? Dax, welcome. I misplaced my small nation versus historic soccer

powerhouse upset alert. I know. I meant Cape Verde versus Spain played to a draw. Here's the data. Cape Verde had six shots. Only one on target, only six touches in the opponent's box, one corner.

It kind of all happened at the end of the game, while Spain had possession for 74% of the time, but they could not score one goal. Kenny Atkinson believes Spain, yeah. One that game, just sys it. Is Spain in trouble in your mind? Also, this segment features Legos that Nick made. I mean, it's unbelievable. Constructed.

The set look great. Very impressive. That just looks great. Unbelievable Legos. My seven-year-old would love this. And also several cool adults. Again, guys, it just looks also. I don't have to be jealous.

Spain. Go ahead. No, Spain's not in trouble, but concerning performance. I felt your pain yesterday. But I love what you said, Brooke. Top of the show. This is how they start. Yeah.

They've, you know, the last 15 World Cups, they've won three of their opening games. So this is not a surprise. They lacked engineering. in the attack. They were slow. They were predictable. They've got a lot of great technicians on the ball. They don't have a lot of killer instinct when Laminia Mall is not on the field. He's got all those qualities and he will open up space for more players. The most important thing to come out of that game other than 40-year-old Vosinia becoming a legend and a superstar for Kate Verde was the fact that no reports that Laminia Mall came out of that game with any issues with the most important muscle. You're on hamstring watch. But does that, here's my question for you, Dad. Yeah.

Does that, is that performance just, they took them lightly, Cape Verde, you know, was basically, once we got past half time playing 11 guys back and just desperately trying to get to the draw. And you don't chalk it up to much. Or was it that, all right, so we have this 18-year-old phenom who is, you know, on hamstring watch.

And if he were to re-agravate it, that Spain is just not. and a lead of the elite teams? Like, are they that reliant on Yom? Yes, they are that reliant on him. But they are still an elite team, but he provides something different. He is easily one of the best players in the world, top three player in the world. When you do not have that, of course, you are going to lack a little bit of killer instinct in the final third.

But I'm not worried about Spain because they control games so well. This was a perfect storm of lackluster finishing combined with elite goalkeeping and defending to really make it difficult for Spain. And so they're traditional slow starters. I think they're going to be fine in this tournament as long as Yamal is healthy. I still believe France is the favorite over them to win. But when Yamal is back, when he's at his best, he opens up space for other players. They have other players that can step up in big moments and provide them with goals,

but they need space. So I don't think they're going to face a goalkeeper who stands on his head like that. But they're going to need to get sharper in the box. I think they had six shots off target in the six yard box. That's almost impossible to do if you try. That won't happen again. Spain's going to be fine. I got two questions for you.

One, were you surprised that they struggle so badly without Yamar? Because I was thinking the roster was so good that even without him, particularly against a Cape Verdi, they would still be able to be impressive. And two, how about Nico Williams, too? Like he's got the hamstring, only played the last few minutes like. Sure. How are you concerned about his health as well and how much do they need him as well and alongside Lamont? Yeah, I was a little bit surprised they struggled so much.

But this was more of a lack of finishing, right? The perfect storm of them being really wasteful in front of goal. They settled for way too many shots outside the box, which when you sit against a low, deep, compact block, which Cape Verde was, sometimes you need to take a few shots from outside the box, get them to step a little bit higher to open up space. But Spain's biggest issue when they don't have Yamal, when they don't have a Nico Williams on the field from the beginning is they lack a little bit of pace and 1V1 ability to go break players down off the dribble. Ferran Torres is a great player, but he's more of a passer. He's more of a finisher inside the box. And Gavi is more of a midfielder. He was playing a little bit wider.

So once you get those two players back, one v1 dribbling ability to beat a player off the dribble is one of the most important aspects of a team's ability to break down a low block. Once you get those players back, Spain is going to have significantly more dynamism in and around the box. And that's going to open up spaces for their forwards to, I think, have a little bit more, let's call it, high efficiency chances to be able to score goals. Again, to get the two best players back, that will be able to break players down. I'm not worried about it. Not hot take. Spain's in trouble. We talked about yesterday Curisal versus Jordan. I was like, I could see Curisal tying.

And you're like, they're not going to tie. And they ended up losing 7-1. And we came on and were like, Germany crushed Curacao. Then we basically had largely the same storyline. Maybe Spain doesn't like pump the goals as much. And Yamal, we were like, Yomal will get in to get some exercise once they're rolling. So I don't know.

I feel like I'm the only one like flashing, right warning signs a little bit more. And I know it's like the first game. It's like Argentina last year, but they did not look good. If Argentina, when Spain lost their first, and I know we have to get these other games, so I'll be quick. When Spain lost their first match in 2010 and won't win the World Cup, they're playing Switzerland, which isn't a historical power, but it is still a legitimate, you know, major soccer nation. The comp is Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia, but that caused massive panic. Now, they rebounded from it and they never lost again, so it showed it can be done.

But, Spain is, or Saudi Arabia is a better world ranking than Cape Verde from last year's World Cup to now. And again, people panicked about it. So I think if Argentina hadn't done that and went on to win the World Cup, there would be more. With a little bit of a precedent. I just, do you think there's any, and then we'll move on, sorry. Do you think there's anything to sort of the mindset of Spain where like even the manager is like, a team that's on more than a 30 match unbeaten run? can't have any doubts.

That they've just, like, we haven't lost in a long time. A few draws. Like, we're just going to take them lightly. And that's going to, you don't think that will have any carryover to the rest. I don't. I don't. You can call it a little bit of a wake-up call, a little bit of a, hey, we need to sharpen up.

We need to get better. But I don't believe it's going to affect them going into these next two games. I think they're going to win their next two games, win their group. And I think they are going to be very confident with a fully fit, Laminia Mall going into the knockout rounds. Officially I'm out on Spain. Several superstars in action today. First up, France taking on Senegal today,

three on Fox. And Boppe's won the Golden Boot, 12 World Cup goals. Then Belize is a reigning Valendor winner. Mani on the other side. What are you expecting from the superstars in this game? Yeah. I think France is going to score three goals and all of a sudden be the narrative-wise,

take control of the tournament. Because I think span, I understand Germany had that amazing game. Kira Sal is not. Senegal. Senegal is a legitimate competitor, and France was either the favorite or the second favorite to Spain, depending on how you looked at it. So I expect, and I thought in that game against the U.S.

Dax, I thought Senegal showed you, you can score on. Now, Manet is going to try to get some back, but they are not going to play, you know, an Uber defensive style. They're going to allow some chances. So I expect, I think Mbapé is going to get closer to that close A 16 World Cup goal record that he's four off of, and I think France is going to score some goals. Let's take it a step further, Nick. He's going to break that record in this tournament. Nice. And he is one of the best players in the world, but he also plays for the biggest club in the

world in Real Madrid. And he hasn't, he has been blamed for a lot of Real Madrid's issues the last couple of years. Two years, trophyless in Spain for Real Madrid. It's almost sacrilegious. It's almost unheard of. And so there is a ton of pressure. There's actually never been more pressure You're on Mbapé than there is right now going into this tournament to step up and perform. He's never had a better attack around him. You have to go back to the 2002 Brazil World Cup championship team with Rvaldo, the original R9, the original Rinaldo, and Rinaldo, and Rondino, to where you would have three better attacking players than Dembele, the reigning Belon d'Or winner, Mbapap and Michael Olise,

who is going to be sold at some point for nine figures. I mean, you're talking about three of the best attacking players in the tournament. And so Mbapé is the focal point of that. He is going to break the all-time World Cup goals record. He already holds the record for most goals scored in a World Cup final with four. He can become France's all-time leading goal score if he just scores one more. And so you're talking about a 27-year-old who's already won the World Cup. And this is the dichotomy of the pressure he is under, but the legendary status that he will hold at the end of this tournament if he does break all these records.

It's fascinating, and I'm excited to watch him play. Yeah, the record is what I'm really looking at. I mean, just to put it in a little perspective, he's got the 12 goals in two World Cups. And Messi has 13, which is tied for fourth all time, in five World Cups. I know Messi hasn't always been at his best necessarily in the World Cup, but that's staggering, like the pace he's on.

All right, well, let's head over to Kansas City tonight. The reigning champs, Argentina and Messi take on Algeria. A lot of continuity here. 17 players on this team were on the championship team. What are you expecting from Messi tonight, Dax? I'm expecting Messi to obviously start the tournament a little bit slower. I actually think Argentina isn't going to win tonight. I think they're not on Wilde's upset alert, but I do believe they are going to tie this game.

I think Algeria is going to cause them some problems. Messi, will he start? Will he not start? I'm on record saying Lino Scolone needs to manage his minutes coming off that injury that he had with Interm Miami. And I don't expect him to be as dangerous of a goal scoring threat in this World Cup. I expect him to be much more of a creator, much more of a facilitator. And look, even though he has these otherworldly goal scoring numbers, he is still one of the best players in the world when it comes to his vision, his ability to, break teams down with his passing.

He has unbelievable feel for the game, the timing of his passes. And so if you told me Lataro Martinez, their striker, was going to win the golden boot in this World Cup, I would say, yeah, it makes a lot of sense. But Algeria is going to cause them a lot of problems. A team in really good form right now. And we need to take account of what happened last World Cup, with Argentina starting a little bit slower. In the build up to this World Cup, Argentina, the last six games they played, the highest

ranked team they played was Honduras at 60. sixth in the FIFA world rankings. I don't believe they've prepared for this tournament in a in a good enough way to be prepared from the beginning, but they will get stronger as the tournament goes on. I still expect them to be one of the last four teams. Yeah, I mean, because yeah, that last part makes more sense to me because they've won three straight major tournaments. They've won right, the Coppa twice in a row. To Coppa Americas and the World Cup in the middle. They're a big tournament team. And they also have the most return. players of any team at this World Cup, and they're the defending champs.

So now your point out... Four years older. Yeah, right. Your point about them being slow starters is, you know, obviously true historically. But that surprised me. It's no disrespect to Algeria, and I love how awesome the Algerian team has been to the kids in Kansas City. But I, it would be, I think it would be very, if you're right, I think that'll be very

surprising to the people tuning in tonight on Fox, not to see Argentina, you know, know, running, running up on out here. Just 30 seconds here. I'm looking at your World Cup big board, France, Spain, Argentina. We'll see how it France does this afternoon, but Spain's already tied. If you have Argentina with a draw too, would you have a shake up in your power rankings? Absolutely. That's what power rankings are for, though, right?

It's based on form. It's based on results. We've seen a number of big teams drop results to smaller teams. So I think that this tournament with, the expanded World Cup, you see smaller teams really playing well to start this tournament. And you see that the gap is maybe starting to close a little bit, especially in these early rounds. I still expect the big teams to advance, all the big teams to advance.

I don't think that there's going to be any team on my big board that doesn't advance out of their group into the knockout rounds. But once you get to the knockout rounds, that's when you want to be hitting your best form in the tournament. And I think all the big teams are going to do that. Every small team of Carousel really is looking at. Granted, I was born in the United States of America, and then maybe that colors my opinion a little bit.

We've looked like the best. I don't know who has looked better than us. Germany looks pretty good. Germany was playing Curisow, which is a great team. You put that out of Jersey. There are a great senator. Get me wrong. Exactly.

That being said, three hours, 23 minutes, 10 seconds. France has an opportunity to hang the most impressive result on the board up to this point. That's why I'm a friend. French guy as well. You're a French guy? Did you see my outfit? I had a blue striped shirt. I looked very frank.

Your French guy bruise a wendy apologist. Oh, really? No, no. More first things first. Welcome back to first things first. We're counting down to Iraq, Norway, on Fox. That's going to be today in six hours, 19 minutes, and five seconds. Erling Holland, 55 goals, 50 caps from Norway.

Iraq in their first World Cup since 1986. Norway outscored its opponents 37 to 5 in route to qualifying. They're going to score. Yeah. And your point about Holland, that he's averaging more than a goal a match in his career for his country, yet this is his first ever World Cup game, I think he'll be pretty stoked against the Lions of Mesopotamia. Head to college football. Brennan Soresby will enter the NFL supplemental draft.

Not play for Texas Tech this year, even though he had a path with what Tom Pellasoro called, quote, legal wrangling, which I like. It's like a Texas thing. And he's applying to enter. The NFL. Oh, I didn't know that. I thought he just automatically entered. No, he has to be determined. And they've only got seven days to determine whether or not they're even going to let him in it.

Oh, like, because I always had it in my back pocket that I could enter. No, you're not necessarily. So that's like almost the next layer. of this? Is the NFL just going to, because you're only allowed to enter the NFL, the supplemental draft for certain reasons, or else it's why you don't have guys entering it all the time? And do you think I bet 90, you know, I made thousands of bets? Well, it's less about that, it's less about that and more about whether or not he would have just been eligible for the regular draft. And so like, so it's that part's a little complicated, just to be clear. And we'll

get, the NFL hasn't said how they're going to rule on that yet. But go ahead. I interrupt. No, that's it. Like the, the, Brew, do you want to go first on the Texas Tech part of this? Well, look, I don't, I think it's, we're not sure if Texas Tech just made the right move, right decision by saying, you know what, we're not going to have him play for us.

I think with the Big 12's new suit, you know, they tried to, they were going to get some, I don't know. They were going to try to stop him from play. Right. And the decision was going to be made right before. training camp. And so I feel like for Soresby and Texas Tech, they probably looked at that like,

we can't wait that long. And, you know, we wait and then we find out he can't play or whatever puts us in a bad spot. So I think it was maybe a mutual decision, whatever. And the Big 12, good job on their part by getting this resolved, so to speak. I think for the NFL, I actually think it would be a good thing

because I'm not saying he shouldn't get a second. chance at all. There are players, a few wide receivers who have gambled on games. They had a suspension and then they're back in the league. His obviously was to a degree that we haven't seen in a while. $90,000 what was it, 40 bets, more than 40 bets on his own team. Yeah, it was more the volume of bets than the volume of money. Because there was 40 bets on his own team, but thousands of bets

overall that I think is what was an alarming thing. And I think being a quarterback is different. Yes. I actually would like to see the NFL keep him out of the supplemental draft. I know he went to rehab. Send him again. Like make sure, like you have to make sure this guy is completely clean before you let him in the NFL.

And I was thinking if he is in the supplemental draft, I don't want to, you don't want to get too much into his privacy. but there has to be some type of special surveillance or something to make sure he's just not gambling. Well, that's what, I mean, Texas Tech said they were going to have, like, surveillance sounds like a weird word, but monitor essentially is electronic activity, which is a different form of like electronic surveillance,

essentially on that front. I think there should, though, be some type of punishment and some type of time tape frame before you can play. Well, so listen, the NFL has a precedent. Again, it was most notably under. the previous, I think it was the previous commissioner. I should have, the Torell Pryor got, you know, missed time

for selling, it now seems so quaint. Right. You know what I mean? Selling his own memorabilia in those things. But there is precedent for an NFL punishment for a college crime, you know what I mean? For something you did in college.

I do want to say this on the front end. This is the right result. Yeah. You can empathize with the young man to varying degrees while recognizing what he did and what he was

caught doing didn't give himself up, you know, what he was caught doing deserves to have ended his college football career. And it did. I do not know that I believe it deserves to end his football career and it looks like it won't. Whether he's eligible to enter

this year's supplemental drafter, not he is going to have an opportunity to play professional football. Now, if the NFL decides punish the fact that he essentially is forfeiting this season at Texas Tech, that's punishment enough. That's reason that I wouldn't throw a fit over that.

And if they decide, no, we need our, you know, a penalty on our end, too. I wouldn't throw a fit on that. I do think it will be, if he is eligible for the draft, very interesting in what teams, because I think it would be multiple, put a claim in on him and how high those claims are. People don't understand a supplemental draft. It's a little complicated. There's something about, there's actually a lottery system involved, but the simplest way to understand it is if you draft a player with a third round pick

in this year's supplemental draft, you give up your third round pick in next year's regular draft. And there hasn't been a player drafted since 2019, 2019. 2019, correct. I mean, you lose something. My, you know, my original partner on this show is the most famous supplemental draft pick ever in Chris Carter. and there have been other guys drafted. Chris might have been the first. I would imagine if he's eligible,

the scouts say he would have been the second best quarterback in this year's draft and probably worthy on boards of like a late first round pick. I would imagine he would go in the third round of the supplemental draft. I think there will be a team that decides that's worth the risk. and if you were to ask me what team do I think would do it, it feels very Cleveland Brownsy. Well, you know, we know we're going to take a PR hit, but the value potential of this is so high,

we're going to roll the dice on it. I don't know if you saw those or not. He's one of the few coaches that has talked about it. Oh, in a negative way? I didn't watch the full interview, unfortunately. I mean, it wasn't like, yeah, we're excited. It didn't seem like it was like... Well, I mean, I think all these...

I think, again, it's like a blind auction in that. You submit what round you would be willing to... And whoever has the highest pick in the highest round gets him. But I don't think he would go undrafted, is the point I'm making. I think some team would be like, we are willing to roll the dice on it. And I do think he deserves another shot. Like, I do believe that even if there's a penalty associated with him.