The Bill Simmons Podcast - Ep. 4: NFL & NBA w/ Joe House

Episode Date: October 2, 2015

HBO's Bill Simmons talks Week 4 NFL gambling plays, first NFL coach fired, 2015 NBA Finals retro-review and a possible 2016 NBA title sleeper with old buddy Joe House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fourth episode of the Bill Simmons podcast is brought to you by Universal Pictures and their upcoming film, Steve Jobs. It's directed by Slumdog Millionaire's Danny Boyle. It's written by the one and only Aaron Sorkin, and it features a loaded cast that includes Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet. Critics are calling it, quote, must see one of a kind cinema that cannot be ignored, end quote. Steve Jobs opens in select theaters on October 9th and everywhere October 16th. I cannot wait to see this movie. And speaking of people I cannot wait to see,

it's not just Steve Jobs, it's Joe House. How are you? Oh, yeah. We're going to do this every Friday during the NFL season. We're going to go through week four picks this week, but every week we're going to go through week four picks this week, but every week we're going to go through the picks. Joe House, you've been a shockingly good NFL handicapper.

I don't think you get enough credit for this, both in your personal life and your professional life. It's very nice of you to say, look, before we get going, though, let's do this properly. Hold on a second now. Hold on, hold on. It's Friday. The podcast is back. Let's do this. Hold on. Let now hold on hold on let's get this this it's friday the podcast is back let's do this hold on let's see oh oh you hear this hold on you know what

this is oh sing it with me oh oh oh oh oh oh hold on hold on come on i don't think we can clear this what are you talking about we gotta clear it um call it a comeback i've been here for years come on what that's that's just 10 seconds you can't get that in yeah that's funny they won't mind thank you that was nice yeah don't call it a comeback it's nice to be back it's nice to talk to my friends it's nice to it's nice to have opinions on things it's nice to be wrong every once in a while obviously i'm I'm going to be wrong on a lot of these picks. I don't like week four. Oh, and by the way, we should mention two things. One is that

I have an HBO show coming next spring that I'm very excited about. I know you're excited about it too. You're an unofficial conciliary for it. Yeah. And then the second thing is we're going to talk NBA after we get through these NFL picks. Yeah, I have to say,

getting going with the NBA this week, it's kind of, I'm so, well, both of us have this condition. We're so old now. For me, I have like a left brain, right brain problem because I'm fully in on the NFL right now. Yeah. I'm running computations, algorithms, you know, exponents to the various scenarios and trying to get going on the NBA. But then, lo and behold, the win totals came out for the NBA on Wednesday. We'll save that. That's going to be its own podcast. We do that every year. We do the over-unders.

The thing we haven't talked about, because I did not have a place to talk about it for a while, was the 2015 NBA Finals. So we'll do a little retro on that and the draft. We'll just go backwards. Yeah, we'll do a little time machine. Let's talk NFL. I don't like week four. I'm worried because week one was easy and week three was easy. And it's been too easy to make money betting on football.

And it feels like this is the week when, when the NFL is mean to us. What do you think? Yeah. So that's why you will see when we get to this, I have four dogs and only one favorite. They're kind of my leading selections for the week. And the dogs are all smelly dogs. These are all dogs. These are all, these are all smelly dogs. Smelly dogs.

These are all clothespin picks. Get the clothespin, put it on your nose, close your eyes, and just go with what history has taught us about bad teams and situations like many of these bad teams we're going to talk about find themselves in. Well, we kind of promised that we'd do five picks a week. We promised each other. We made a promise. We did.

It was like a blood oath. Yeah. And the reason we did that was because we wanted to kind of mirror what the super contest is, which every week in the Vegas super contest, you got to make five picks. I did not enter the super contest this year. Neither did Sal. And we thought you were with us you were gonna skip it but no you went and got a proxy and you

entered it without telling us which i resented i i thought you guys might be doing it anyway i mean everybody's got their own you know the the in may everything changed everybody was left to their own devices to go find their way in this scary world. Sal had his contract with the SPN, but I didn't know what he was doing. I didn't know where you were going to land. I had to take care of me. And, you know, the Super Contest has grown into a very important part of my life from September until, you know, January of each year. So, I mean, I got to have the action. I'm not going to walk away from the action. And you guys, it was pretty clear there was no trip to Vegas

in the cards in August. So I just had to go do my thing. Well, what's your super contest record right now? We have 10 points. So you're 10 and 5? 10, 4, and 1? Oh, you pushed. Yeah, we pushed. So we have two ties, nine wins. I don't know it up to the minute.

You picked that Raven-Steelers game yesterday, the minus three? Yes. That was a push waiting to happen. Well, you know, sometimes you've got to go safe. We didn't have a good week the week before. But I have a partner in it, and my partner and I both liked the Ravens' angle, the Ravens' position as an 0-3 team coming in there. I did as well. It's weird.

I picked the Steelers just because I couldn't decide who was going to win the game, so I grabbed the points. And I'm not sure the Ravens are good. The defense is really atrocious. They have no pass rush anymore. Doesn't seem like they have any deep guys anymore for him to throw to, Flacco. Yeah, they really miss Torrey Smith. They really do.

And who's kind of not really playing that much for San Francisco. Their offensive line isn't as good as it was. But they got a gift from the gods, finally. They had such bad luck in the first three weeks, and then in week four, Tomlin, Mike Tomlin doing Mike Tomlin things again.

Yeah. The kicker, Scobie. I know. He was an abomination. Trade for a kicker, and then a guy boots you right out of the game. What about the fourth and one pass with Michael Vick? That's what I thought you were talking about with Tomlin, right?

Well, terrible call by Tomlin, and then terrible pass with Michael Vick? That's what I thought you were talking about with Tomlin, right? Well, terrible call by Tomlin and then terrible play by Michael Vick. Like, first of all, why are you throwing basically a touch pass, a precision pass with one of the least precise quarterbacks of the last 20 years who's been decent? Yeah, who's in his first NFL game in however many months. So Vick goes back. There's no his first NFL game in however many months. So Vic goes back. There's no pass rush at all. He's falling backwards for some reason and zooms it right over the guy's head. Good play. I didn't agree with the field goal choices.

It's just like you have the lead and you have field position. Why do you keep giving the Ravens the ball close to the 50-yard line? It was idiotic. So the Ravens lucked out. It re-emphasizes again the difference between sort of good organizations and bad organizations, well-coached teams, well-run teams. I mean, I'm not suggesting that the Steelers are poorly run,

but those Thursday games, you know, when the week is so short and you just sort of stumble in there, it's such a challenge for some teams. I mean, Washington went through that the previous week. They were in that game against the Giants and had every reason to win that game and had 15 different opportunities to win that game. But ultimately, to me, I call it kind of organizational failure. Like one organization was better than the other under those circumstances. Well, you just described why I don't bet on Thursday games.

Yeah. I bet on week one, the Pats obviously. But other than that, I just think it's too hard to decide what's going to happen when you have three days rest when so much of it is about preparation and stupid stuff like yesterday. Like the Steelers were the right pick yesterday. They should have won the game. They had many opportunities to win the game.

But if you look at the Ravens, week one, the tight end gets pass interfered with twice going down the field on the biggest play of the game. They don't call it Denver, so they lose that one. And then week two, the Raiders game was an either-or game. I think either team could have won that. And then week three, they were right there with the Bengals. I thought they played pretty well in that game. They played well enough to win. I picked them in that game.

They were one of my super contest selections. Right, so they're one and three. They could be three and one. They could be two and two. They could be oh and four. Two and two feels right for them. Yeah, two and two feels right. So they're a game back from where they should be.

I'm okay with that. And I trust that they're going to figure out something defensively. They're not going to keep giving up record receiving yards and touchdowns to opposing receivers every week. They need some speed. A couple times last night, Flacco was throwing important passes to guys down the field who I'd never heard of. It reminded me of the couple years when the Patriots would score over Brady

over the course of Brady's career, and it'd be like some key 3rd and 11 play, and he's throwing it to Matthew Slater. It does hurt not to have qualified receivers on 3rd and 11. Well, the Bears are getting rid of every quality player on their team. Maybe Alshon Jeffries on the table. He's available. Why would they trade him? Why would they trade anybody? Why did they trade Bostic

and Allen? Well, I don't know if Bostic is good and Allen was expensive. I wanted the Pats to get Allen. I was really upset about that. I heard that. I heard you with Allen. Yeah, I talked about that. Are you staying away from the London game, Jets-Dolphins?

I am not. That is one of my games. Oh, I wonder if we have the same pick. It's one of my games as well. Wow. How about it? Jets minus two over the Dolphins is the line. Okay.

I had one and a half. One and a half. Whatever. Do you want to go with one and a half or two? Two is even better. I prefer two. I'll give you two points. Give me two, yeah.

So, who's your selection? Well, why don't you go? You're my guest. I love the Dolphins in this situation. Woo! I love the Dolphins here. Okay, give me reasons. First of all, the Dolphins have played in London before. They

have won each time that they've been to London. That's really Joe Philbin's legacy. I own London. There are a couple of Joe Philbin angles to this that are interesting and curious. They are coming in as a straight-up favorite, and they lost, and teams who are arriving in London in that kind of situation

are 4-1 both straight-up and against the spread. Joe Philbin, as the coach of the Miami Dolphins, when the Dolphins have a losing record, they are 12-4 against the spread in the Joe Philbin era, and they are 10-2 against the spread off a loss. So with a losing record, when the Dolphins have a losing record, and they're coming in off a loss, they have a 10-2 record against the spread.

I like the Dolphins. I'll take all two points that you offered me. Thank you very much. So they beat the washington professional football team in week one by seven points in an uninspiring effort they lost to blake bortles and the jacksonville jaguars in week two in a game that there was some quitting signs unforgivable and then unforgivable and then some stuff leaked out after that sue is freelancing on the defensive line all this stuff it's like how's he freelancing he the defensive line and all this stuff. It's like, how's he freelancing? He's getting double teamed every play.

What freelancing is he doing? What is he, John Travolta? And then last week they got destroyed by the Bills. I mean, in what looked like a give-up performance in week three. It looked like they quit in that game. And the reason

why I think you could make the case for the Jets is that they have a similar defensive style to what the Bills did last week. And the Bills just went after Tannehill. Yeah. You can't do that to Brady because he gets rid of every ball in two seconds. Yes. And it's like, oh, you're loading up on me on the left side. I'm just going to throw it over here to Gronkowski.

Oh, you're doing this. I'm going to throw it to Edelman. Oh, I'll just do a screen pass. Ryan Tannehill, incapable of making those decisions because he's Ryan Tannehill. He needs time. He needs to do Ryan Tannehill things. I worry that the Jets can blitz the living hell out of him. You don't have to worry.

They're going to do that. There's no two ways about it. Todd Bowles has shown that if there's one thing that he likes, the style of defense he's going to play is blitz, blitz, and more blitz. I honestly really like the Jets. I watched that defensive performance they put on the Colts on that Monday night game two weeks ago. I was so impressed. What a defense.

They just bring it, bring it, bring it. But now Revis is banged up already. Yeah, of course. They lost Cromartie, right? They're doing Ryan Fitzpatrick things. Well, and so there's your case. So go one of two ways here. If the Dolphins lose, they're going to fire Joe Philbin

because they have a bye week next week. I think that's it. If it's ains lose, they're going to fire Joe Philbin because they have a bye week next week. I think that's it. If it's a bad loss, if it's a stupid loss, whatever happens in that game. What can we get on Joe Philbin, his first NFL head coach? It was like plus 240, something like that. Let's talk about that.

But if you're betting that, you're betting that you have to go against the pick you just made. It's a nice edge is what that is, buddy. Oh, that's interesting. I like those odds. Plus 240 on Joe Philbin, but then also bet the Dolphins plus two. Yes, yes.

Well, you mentioned the key point for why you would take the Dolphins here is Ryan Fitzpatrick's like 25 games under.500 as a starter. He's still Ryan Fitzpatrick. He hasn't changed. They have a couple receivers who can make plays now, but it does feel like after such a bad effort against the Bills that this is now

a season defining game for the Dolphins. Are they ready to quit? Are they going to quit on Joe Philbin? I don't know. You know what? I'm going to stay away. I'm just staying away from this game. You're staying away. I thought you said that was one of your games and now you've talked yourself into staying away. I talked myself out of it. I have one last stat for you. This is

brought to you by my good friend and my partner in the super contest. I'm not sure whether I should reveal that. Big Al McMoherty, bigal.com has this tidbit for you, this angle. The New York Flyboy Jets, 0-13 since 1980 against the spread. If the spread is three points or less, and their opponent failed to cover by 13 points or more. You didn't tell me there was going to be math on this podcast. Look, I'm a situational better. I like scenarios. I like trends. I like to look back

and take information from all kinds of sources. Fine. I'll stick to my guns. I like the Dolphins, too. It's a ridiculous pick. I don't think... This game should be a pick-em. You're at least getting points. And you get to bet against Ryan Fitzpatrick. And if Miami loses this game, they're done for this season.

I think they have the most urgency of anybody in week four. They have to win this game. We're together on the Dolphins. And FYI, if they win this game, they're 2-2, they get a bye week, then they're at Tennessee, home for Houston, and then at New England on Thursday night, which is really Joe Philbin firing day, I would think. And look, we also have a tasty hedge on Joe Philbin

that we might do behind this. Jags are getting nine points in Indianapolis. Any thoughts on that? I don't like Indianapolis giving anybody anything more than three points this season. That defense has been the most unreliable defense I've seen in the whole NFL. I'm going to play that game for sure, but it's not one of my top five. Yeah, I like the Jags as well, but I wouldn't bet on Blake Bortles ever. Right.

That's a good way to make yourself mad at yourself. The Bills are giving five and a half points to the Giants in Buffalo, New York. Any thoughts on this? That might be one of my five. Okay, let's hear it. I'm not taking the Bills. I like the Giants in this situation. I do as well.

One reason I like the Giants, the Giants are 7-1 straight up, 6-1 against the spread in their last eight games against the AFC East. That's a fact Joe House likes. The Giants are 7-1 against the spread on the road after back-to-back home games. That's a fact that Joe House likes.

The Giants are 5-1 straight up, 6-0 against the spread in their next game after playing on a Thursday. Situational betting, situational angle, Joe House likes it. The Giants plus the 5. We're running with it. Alright, I have the Giants at five and a half. But I'll give it to you. I'll take the half point. I'm with you on the Giants. I like the ten days off.

I think the Giants might actually be decent because they should have beaten the Cowboys and they should have beaten the Falcons and then they did beat the Washington Professional Football Team. And they beat them the way they were supposed to beat them. I mean, that's right. And they can throw the ball.

I think their defense is better this year. I don't mind Eli in the road. Buffalo's going to do the thing where they blitz the hell out of him, but Eli actually knows what he's doing, and I'm not sure that's going to totally work against him. I liked how the Pats picked them apart at Buffalo. Brady threw 59 times and completed, I think, 38 of them and did not throw a pick. And he kind of did whatever he wanted in that game.

So I'm with you. The line seems too high. I feel like I'm getting an extra point. That was the big motivator on why that one jumped in the mix. That one is definitely one of the super contest picks, too. And by the way, I've heard this a couple of times where I talk about like, Oh,

I'm getting points. Cause like I know that Vegas just sets the line to try to get an equal amount of action on both teams. Understood. I get it. My point is that sometimes the general public is off on who they like. And when they're off, you end up getting more points than you should or less points than you should, whatever. In this case, general public is off on who they like. And when they're off, you end up getting more points than you should or less points than you should,

whatever. In this case, I think people really like Buffalo right now. And I think people look at the Giants as a one and two team, and I'm not sure they are. I think the line should be Buffalo by four. So you're either getting a point or a point and a half. Yeah.

I'd like it at three, to be honest with you. Yeah, somewhere between three and four. It's still Tyrod Taylor. Right. I think he's been pretty competent, but he's still Tyrod Taylor. Yeah. And I don't like the fact that Buffalo so far, they beat Indy.

They played admirably against the Patriots. And then they killed Miami. So now everybody's like, oh, Buffalo. And I like Buffalo. It just worries me a little bit. I think the Giants need this game. The Giants quickly, they go after this game, San Francisco at home on Sunday night, at Philly on a Monday night, home for Dallas.

Oh, three important games. And then they have at New Orleans, at Tampa, which they'll be favored in both of those games, and they'll blow one of them because that's just what they do. But that's like a three-and-two, four-and-one sort of potential lineup there for them where they're really, you know, back, and people are, oh, Giants and NFC East. And then they have the New England Patriots at

home. Oh. And that is the one of the games I'm worried about as. Of course. Yeah. I already heard you.

You know your musings on whether or not this is going to be one of those magical seasons for the Patriots. Yeah. The scariest games are at the Giants and

and at Denver on Sunday night. Get through two of those. It's smooth sailing after that unless there's injuries or whatever. Right. All right, so we both like the Giants. We do. Bucks plus three at Panthers.

The Panthers are a very soft three now. Here's who they've beaten. Hold on. I'm going to get in here. All right. They beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. Congratulations. Great.

They beat the Houston Texans during their QB roulette season. Congratulations on that. And they beat the Saints without Drew Brees by five points. Yeah, I haven't been that impressed by Carolina. I'm leaving this game alone. Me too. But I would pick the Bucs with gun to my head Bucs,

plus three. Yeah, and I am ashamed, depressed, all kinds of sad emotions. Don't be ashamed or depressed. What are you doing? I was in two different competitions that are these kind of unit allocations. You sound like you're telling me you're in the Ashley Madison catalog or something.

I am definitely not. Everybody that's listening that knows me, I would never under any circumstances in a million years use an identity that anybody could ever track back to me. It's something like that. I like that that's your excuse and not the adultery part of it. Give it a try. Go try and find me. Anyway, I went all in on the Saints money line in two different kind of season-long competitions. All in on the Saints money line at home against Tampa.

Oh, no. Really? Out of both of those competitions now. Out of both of those competitions. Oh, that was... It was terrible. That was misguided. It was so misguided. It was such a bad move by me.

You know, I was drinking my own Kool-Aid. 16-1, you know, I had 15-1 plus my double down week one. Oh, yeah, you were feeling good. Started drinking the Kool-Aid week two. Oh, Joe House, Joe House can't go wrong. And bam, there you go. Yeah. That might be how the B-Aid week, too. Oh, Joe House. Joe House can't go wrong. Bam, there you go. Yeah. That might be how the Bills feel this week.

Right. Another one I don't like enough to wager on, but I do like the pick, is the Raiders are minus three over the Bears. The Bears are starting to get that 0-16 whiff to them. That's not one of my plays for our conversation today, but the idea of the Raiders giving anybody points on the road is so anathema.

That's right. I can't get behind the Raiders on it, although they were so impressive against the Browns last week. So they got their butts kicked by the Bengals in week one. They beat Baltimore legitimately. And then that game could have gone either way. But they played really well.

They put up 37 and they beat one in Cleveland. Yeah. I like Derek Carr. I said that to Sal on Monday. I think he's confident. I'm surprised. I'm not ready to call him confident, but I'm surprised that I'm coming around on him. Congratulations, Derek Carr.

But we're still not ready to bet on you on the road. Falcons home against Houston against Ryan Maut slash Brian Hoyer, whoever started this week. Falcons giving six and a half. Seems high. Seems like a stay away. Yeah, it's a stay away. I'd probably take Atlanta

if I had to. I would take Houston. I just don't like all those points and I don't like Atlanta in the position although I will say I think Atlanta is very well coached and if you look at what they've done the first couple weeks they're 3-0 but they've been 3 close games

well the winning in the 4th quarter is the impressive thing yeah they get better as the game goes along and they came from behind against the Giants came from behind against the Cowboys. They haven't really laid the smack down on somebody yet. And if you look at their schedule, Houston this week, Washington next week,

and then New Orleans on a Thursday night, this team could be 6-0 in two and a half weeks. And still not have laid the smack down on anybody. They don't strike me as the kind of team that's going to be laying the smackdown on anybody. Six and a half is too many for me, though. Yeah. Right now I'm taking Atlanta, but I need to look at that one more.

Chiefs are getting four points at Cincinnati. We talked about the Giants line earlier. This line almost seems too low. It seems like people are assuming that the Chiefs are good this is the biggest game in their season and they factor that into this line because I like the Chiefs but I thought

I was going to get them at 6 and instead they're at 4 what do you think of this one I like Cincinnati Cincinnati has impressed me all season long I think they're 3-0 against the spread to go along with their 3-0 straight up position. I thought they did a – yeah, they are 3-0 against the spread. Right.

You like them enough to wager on them or you just like them as a bet? No, no, no, no. I don't have any angles on this one that I'm not – My only angle on this one is the Chiefs. I wouldn't rule out the Chiefs yet. They beat Houston. They should have beaten Denver. And then Aaron Rodgers on a Monday night.

Like, what can you do? So, no, they're at Cincy, and then Chicago the week after. This is a game with, like, back-to-back, you know, so, like, countervailing facts about it. The Chiefs are 0-5 in games after playing on Mondays when they're playing against somebody with a straight up and against the spread win. But they also have certain angles going in their favor, so I don't know. The Chiefs are 0-79 when Andy Reid does something phenomenally stupid during the game.

I'm picking the Bengals in that one. All numbers approximate. I'm probably going to end up with the Chiefs in that one. Yeah. All right, now here's a spread that's too high. The Browns are getting seven half points in San Diego. And from everything I've seen, I'm not sure San Diego is good at football. Yeah, I don't understand that number.

You mentioned earlier Vegas. All they're trying to do is get equal action on both sides. Why do they think they have to set it so high to get action on the Browns? Nobody wants to bet on the Browns on the road, just like nobody wanted to bet on Tampa Bay in New Orleans in Week 2. There's certain games where they just bump it up, and they're basically dying for you to take the Browns. The Browns had a pretty good road record last year,

if I'm not mistaken, against the spread. I don't have the stat handy. But I don't recall them being terrible wagering-wise. The Chargers are banged up. And I'm not sure they should be laying this many points to anybody. Now, you could have the old, this is why it's a stay away. Phil Rivers always has three, four times a year of the game when he just does Phil Rivers things and wins by 20.

You're like, damn it. I hate, oh, I bet against Phil Rivers during the week when he was feeling it. And I don't trust McCown. So we're staying away. That number is crazy. There is a little fact to it. Chargers are 1-8 against the spread at home when they come back after back-to-back.

They don't have a very good home field. 0-3 against the spread in this series with the Browns. So I'm taking the Browns. Another one they bumped very high to try to get the action on both sides, the Niners getting nine points at home against the Green Bay Packers. So I like that one. They're dying for you to take the Niners' house. Yeah, that is one of my plays this week.

They're giving you five extra points in this game. That's right. Over the last 12 years, home dogs have at least seven points covering near 60% of the time. The contrarian angle, all of the money, early money, flew in on Green Bay, so much so the line was driven down a little. The Sharps started coming in and buying up. I think it opened at 9.5.

So the Niners, they killed Minnesota in Week 1, which was the late game on that doubleheader Monday night thing, which I'm always afraid of that game because it just seems like weird things happen. It's starting at 10 o'clock. It's just goofy. They got killed by the Steelers in week two in Pittsburgh. Steelers had 10 days for that one. Week three, they got killed by the Cardinals. They're only getting six and a half points in Arizona. Everybody forgot Arizona's

a really good home team. They get killed. Now everyone's out on the Niners. It's over. They've gotten outscored 90 to25 in the last two games. And everyone's on the whole Rodgers, can he throw for 55 touchdowns with no interceptions, is he the best, all that stuff. The line's too high. It's not one of my picks, but a lot of things worry me about it,

including the fact that everyone and their brother is going to have the packers in a tease in an elimination pool um you just sign down the line it's like it's it's the niners have to at least play well in this game they can't get blown out in three straight games i i like the the niners and i like all those points okay but we're but we're but so you're betting on them, I'm not. I am. Yeah, this is one of my five. And another desperate team, semi-desperate, the Rams are in Arizona. They're getting seven points.

People have been very bullish on the Rams all year, even though Jeff Fisher goes seven and nine or eight and eight every year since we were in college. And yet, I kind of like the Rams. Yeah, I'm betting the Rams this week. This is another one of my five i mentioned at the outset a bunch of closed pin games you got to hold your nose to take a bunch of these teams yeah the contrarian contrarian angle is off the charts the early money was 92 on the cardinals coming into this yeah great. Great home team, playing great, contender, all that stuff. But the problem is the Rams are a really good NFC West opponent.

They show up against the Cardinals in Seattle. It's always a tough game. And I think all those NFC West games are dogfights. Well, the other thing is the Cardinals now have beaten New Orleans, Chicago, and San Francisco. That is not exactly a murderer's row. They've done it the way they're supposed to, which is bust their asses. They've gone out there and blown out a couple of them.

But, you know, that's not – I think as the season progresses here, the best of those teams will end up being San Francisco, and they're looking at like a 7-9 kind of season. Yeah, I like that card. I think the Rams are one of my picks. There is a nice angle on this also from my very good friend Big Al McMorney of BigAl.com. Since 1980, teams that have scored 78 or more points over their two previous games, and that definitely applies to these Arizona Cardinals, they have covered just

13 of 44 times against opponents that have scored less than 28 points combined over the two previous games. Is there a test after this? Well, look, this is basically like everybody gets psyched because the Cardinals are blowing teams out. They're scoring their number one in the league, I think their scoring average. And we've watched the Rams look just completely inept and limp on offense, and you say, what the hell happened to Nick Foles

and what's going on there? That's a situation that produces a very nice betting angle when you're getting seven. So Joe House likes that betting angle. Joe House will take the seven and hopefully go to the bank. I like the Rams too, and that's also one of my picks. But as I said, I don't see myself betting on any of these games except for a couple of teases. But just to point out with the Rams, they're 1-2.

They do not have a legitimate win this year. The Seahawks game went into OT, and either team could have won that. And then they have Green Bay at Green Bay next week. Jeff Fisher is kind of a sneaky might-get-fired candidate if they get killed in these next two. How did they end up with such a tough schedule? It's just the NFC West puts them in such a bad way. Broncos giving six and a half to the Vikings,

who are banged up at receiver. The Broncos can't really block, although they figured out this little pistol thing their deep their uh their pass rush has been good i've been i'm impressed by their defense and this line seems a tad low but i'm staying away what are you doing i am betting some real hard-earned george washington's on the denver broncos I really like that six and a half number. I really like Denver. They have gone three and oh against the spread so far this season.

And pulled it out in a variety of wacky ways. The Chiefs being by far the wackiest, obviously. But I like the situation of giving less than a touchdown to Minnesota, who is historically terrible on the road. 4-20 against the spread. With shaky receivers. Yeah. So this is a good example of the – it's called the Gus Ramsey game,

my buddy Gus Ramsey. Ah. If Denver's up 10, you just – you're locking out if you have Minnesota. That's right. Once they're down double digits, there's going to be no way for them to come back. So the only way for them to cover that is to be in the mix the whole game. And you know what?

You talked me into it. I'm going to make the Broncos one of my picks. I had another one. I was going to switch, but I'm with you on that. I think that, yeah. I don't think you're going to regret betting on that defense at home against Teddy Bridgewater with a bunch of shaky receivers who either

banged up or not playing. Exactly. Thank you. Let's go... I'm saving your team for the very end. Let's go to Sunday Night Football. Whedon! McCown! Breeze might play? What's the Breeze update? I haven't checked today to see. I bet he plays, to be honest with you. I bet Drew Breeze Breeze might play what's the Breeze update I haven't I haven't

checked today to see I bet he plays to be honest with you I bet Drew Breeze plays well you know what I'm staying I'm staying away from this game completely

and I don't even want to talk about it I don't want to pick Brandon Whedon I don't want to bet on Brandon Whedon I don't like anything I've seen from the Saints atrocious they traded Hicks who was a good defensive

front seven guy to the Pats for our like our fifth string tight end and Jimmy Graham tweeted to Hicks, who was a good defensive front seven guy to the Pats, for our fifth-string tight end. And Jimmy Graham tweeted to Hicks, basically, congratulations for getting out of there. It sounds like the Saints situation is bad. It has imploded.

It's not imploding. It has imploded. They've now lost six straight home games, or at least five. Is it five or six? I mean, and not covered. Remember, they used to be a lock at home. And then on. So I'm staying away from that because I'm just not betting on Brandon Whedon.

No. Ever. Can't do it. And I love betting against him last week. That was wonderful. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Vegas.

Atlanta was one of the good ones. Monday night, Seahawks minus 10 at home against the free-falling Detroit Lions. Yeah, I like the Seahawks. I'm okay with giving the points. The points don't scare me. Me too. I think that's a nice situation for them on a Monday night, you know, back-to-back consecutive primetime situation for them on a Monday night, you know, back to back consecutive, uh, um, primetime games for them. Um, what, what, what time they played the bears last week. They killed the bears. Here's the thing we saw from the lions last week, a team that can't block

and has a quarterback who's in the wrong offense. So it just seems like he's going to get beaten up in this game. And once the Seahawks are up 10, they take it to another level. So that's one of my picks, too. Oh, it's not one of my picks, but I do like the Seahawks. Yeah, so that's what that's. Yeah, so you already did your five. I have my five, yeah. So your five is the same again?

San Fran plus eight, or however many folks are willing to give me, Denver minus six and a half. Yeah, the St. Louis Rams getting seven, the Giants getting five, or five and a half, and the Giants getting one and a half or two. The Dolphins getting one and a half or two. Those are my five. So I think I have the Seahawks minus ten, the Broncos minus six and a half, the Rams plus seven, the Giants plus five and a half, andams plus seven the giants plus five and a half and the dolphins plus two

i talked you into the dolphins yeah i was i i was yeah you probably did i'll blame you it's great for me because i get to blame you now if it doesn't happen uh before we get to your favorite team uh let's let's get a little something from our friends from Topps here. If you love football, check out Topps' NFL Huddle. That's the NFL's officially licensed digital trading card app with new cards released daily. You can collect your favorite players.

You can make trades with other users. How? You could trade Kirk Cousins to the Bears if you want. Done and done. Alright, done. Even better, you play your cards and earn points in real-time daily games based on how players perform on game day. So there's a little bit of a fantasy football element to this too.

Over 300 million Topps digital packs have been open since 2012. Download the NFL Huddle app for free on iTunes or Google Play and you get 10 free packs today. Okay, the Washington professional football team. You are getting three points at home against Sam Bradford. So I'm staying so far away from it. I'm literally staying away from it. I wouldn't go anywhere near FedEx Field under any circumstances.

Not driving even near this day. The worst game to experience in America. And I also probably will be watching, well, I'll watch a little bit of it because you never know what new and exciting thing Jake Rudin may invent for the offense. I like the Eagles by three. Oh, you're predicting a push. Interesting.

I like that. I'm predicting a push. I think the Skins win the game, but I'm not betting on them. Okay. Yeah. I like your offensive line. I like your defense. You've got 10 days.

10 days to think about it. The defense is much improved. It hurt to have Duke, I'm going to get the name, the pronunciation, Iannaccio, their safety, who was playing well, go down again. He missed all of last season. They got him from Denver. He's an excellent safety, but they have competent corners. It's just whether or not they can stay healthy.

D'Angelo Hall's got a toe again, and Culliver's been very good. It was heartbreaking to lose Junior Gallet before he even got to play it down, but the linebacking core has been good. They've been putting good pressure on quarterbacks, so I like the professional football team here in Washington. On the defensive side, the offense remains as frustrating as ever. And it's mainly because I'm just not sure that Jake Rudin belongs as a head coach. Oh, that's your expert opinion, Doc?

Wow. Congratulations on that one. We have 19 games under our belt now. 19 games of evidence. He's won five of them. Wait a second. Topps was, I actually, that was supposed to be a sponsor. I'm going to give them a double plug because they were supposed to sponsor the biggest mailbag question of the year or whatever.

I still haven't come up with a great phrase for that one yet. But here's the big mailbag question presented by Topps on a Philhuddle. It was a rule that you stated over and over again, says Dan from New York, never bet against Peyton Manning at night. And yet you deviated from it twice this season after deciding Peyton Manning was done. And he covered on both occasions. What gives, Simmons? House, do you blame me for going against Peyton Manning at night?

Well, I know what your eyes are telling you, and I don't disagree with the observation. I mean, it looks like for him to really get the fastball going, he's throwing from his ankle. Like, he's using every muscle in his body, turning it into the throw to get

the ball down the field with any pace whatsoever. You know what it looks like, actually? It looks like somebody who's playing on the beach with their son, throwing footballs for an hour, and they throw their arm out, but they want to get 10 more minutes out of it. They don't want to disappoint their son, and now they have to use their whole body to throw the ball.

That's what he looks like. And I get that that all sounds like hater talk, but it is what he looks like, and all the same, I've had the Broncos every week. I love the Broncos. I'm not going against them until the situation calls for it, until the points start trending in the right direction. Because like this week, six and a half, I'll take it all day long.

Thank you. All right, we're about to talk NBA, but first I have one more sponsor that I want to talk about. House, do you love books but find that you never have time to read them? Serious question. That really is the case in my life. I'm an awesome half book reader. I'll read the hell out of half books.

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And, you know, normally I would defend music in the car, but Sirius got rid of Yacht Rock. And Yacht Rock was on Channel 31, and I was in such a good mood for six weeks. I turned on Michael McDonald. He kept forgetting about people. Christopher Cross was sailing. Rupert Holmes, he liked pina coladas.

I was just such a happy place to be, and then they yanked it away from me. And Peebo Yamo be there. Yeah, Yamo, James Ingro was Yamo be there for Michael McDonald. Jerry Rafferty was right down the line. I was really happy. It was just nice mellow music

that just, it was just fun to drive around and be in a good mood and now I don't know what to do. I'm lost. That is a middle-aged confession if I ever heard one. Yeah, thank you. And thanks to Audible.com. So let's talk hoops quickly. We've got about 20 minutes here.

Nice. Did the right team win the finals last year? The answer is yes, of course. I think the framing of the question is a little suspect. I apologize. Sorry. They won. The right team won because you can't look at injuries and say that this might have affected the series.

Staying healthy is a crucially integral and important element of being successful. And the Warriors had an outstanding run of health last season, which is why they reeled off all those dubs and got all the way through the NBA finals and pulled down the banner. I 1 million percent agree. I think the right team won. All right?

The right team won. Repeat. The right team won. The right championship team was the 2015 Warriors. With that said, I've never seen a team get more breaks from start to finish in an NBA season. I still think they would have won.

But when you really go through that season, and you look at all the breaks they caught and all the things that happened to other teams, it was incredible. It was incredible. I've never seen anything like it. It starts out, Durant breaks his foot before the year starts. It comes back too soon.

He's wiped out. And then Ibaka gets hurt right before the playoffs, so now they don't even have to play them. They get to play New Orleans, who's also banged up in round one. You have Chris Bosh, I mean, Miami, I don't know if Miami makes the finals, but Chris Bosh is at least an interesting chess piece to just get removed halfway through the season. Cleveland loses Kyrie and Kevin Love. They're a shell by the finals. Memphis loses Mike Conley. Mike Conley breaks his face.

He got that going. Houston loses Patrick Beverly. Who else did Dwight Howard got hurt? Who else did they lose in that series? I can't remember. That was it, wasn't it? Yeah, maybe. They didn't have Beverly and Howard was on

one leg the Spurs the team they didn't want to play the team they wanted no part of the team

that was basically the veteran replica of themselves lose in game seven to the Clippers and

that's the truly great games ever so they could just get rid of them yeah they get rid of them in round one.

And then the next round, the Clippers completely collapse against Houston. They completely collapse. And one of the biggest collapses in the history of basketball. An unprecedented collapse. Unprecedented. The craziest game I've ever been to in terms of just watching a team implode in sections. And now they get to play Houston in round three instead of the Clippers, who I think they would have beaten the Clippers,

but that's a much tougher series. For sure. Knock down, drag out. But it's just, you look at everything and, wow. The one to me that just is the biggest, craziest, what-if turn of events is the Spurs losing the last game of the season to the Mavericks. Oh, no, it was to New Orleans. It was in New Orleans.

To New Orleans, exactly. Yeah. That was the one that changed the entire framework for the Western Conference playoffs. And, you know, there's 70 what-ifs that flow from the Spurs winning that game. And what's crazy is they wanted to win that game, and they geared their whole season around the rest principle, and they ended up winning 55 games last season where the team was good enough.

They could have easily won 60 again if they go out there. The 82-game season is the thing that they're trying to conquer. But, you know, in the clinch, in the most important of moments, they couldn't get by New Orleans in game 82. And as a result, they're out of the playoffs in the first round. And by the way, they knew that was a playoff game. That's what I mean. Yeah, they knew that was a playoff game. That's what I mean. Yeah, they had to show up for the game. They didn't mail that in.

I will say, I watched that entire game, and New Orleans just played great. It was just one of those games. San Antonio kept trying to fight back, and New Orleans kept making shots and doing stuff. And you're right, that tilted the axis a little. They also didn't take care of business in game six at home in round one against the Clippers, which was inexcusableable they gave them everything they had in game seven

but um just a chain of events one in game six but that's the thing with the with the nba is you need talent and you need skill and you need uh you need chemistry you need all this stuff but you also need a little luck and i think ultimately we're going to look back at this decade and we're all going to be in disbelief that Oklahoma City didn't win the title. It's just inconceivable. If you came out of the 2012 finals, it's inconceivable that now we're heading into 2016 and they haven't won a title yet.

If you looked at the team they had in the 2012 finals, and I'm not going to say it, you're not going to rope me into saying it, but, um, you know, every decade has a team like this, the rockets in the mid eighties.

If you left the 86 finals, you would have said, well, at some point the rockets are going to win the title. It's going to happen. And then stuff started having Samson broke down and they had drugs and they had all these different things. The magic in the mid-90s, same thing.

Come out of the 94-90, Shaq and Penny. Oh, my God. How many titles are these guys going to win? Boom. They fall apart. Lakers, the next decade. Remember, we'd be on the phone. We'd be arguing about whether the Lakers were going to win eight, nine, ten, eleven titles.

How many? What do you think? Yeah, right. They win three and they're done. Yeah, three and out. So every decade has a team like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In the 70s, Bill Walton and the Blazers.

They win one, they should have won seven. So from that perspective, that's part of the quote-unquote luck angle. Now, with that said, I thought the Warriors were terrific all season. I think Steph Curry's a transcendent player. You need a transcendent player to win a title. A deserving MVP. But they were tight in those first two games.

And that's where the right kind of team, I think, could have maybe gotten them to implode. And the Cavs didn't have the firepower. It's the sad angle of Kyrie getting hurt. Yeah. I mean, even him at kind of the 70% or approaching 80% that he was playing at was enough to make the series super duper interesting. Yeah, at least make them work for it.

In other words, they did work for it a little bit, but like Draymond had deer in the headlights. That's what made me wonder. He couldn't make open threes. They started giving him open threes from the top of the key. Yeah, and LeBron, the way they controlled the pace, it was so smart what they were doing, and they just threw the Warriors out of their pace completely.

It reminded me a little bit of what the Giants did to the Pats in Super Bowl XLII where they just slowed the game down and made it so disjointed and weird. Yeah, it took the things that were their advantage and really emphasized them. Tristan Thompson, you know, was a monster, and that's because by design, by construct. Yeah. So, and the Warriors regrouped. They have a great coach who hopefully is going to be healthy. I mean, when you talk about luck and injuries, the real injury outcome of that series was Steve Kerr's body was breaking down

as the series was going on. He had back surgery after the year. He slipped a disc in game five from the bench. From stress, from all that stuff. And now he might not even be available for the start of the season, which is insane. So the reason I bring up the Warriors and why it's relevant for this upcoming season and our over-under pause and all this stuff is there's a little bit of a nobody-believes-in-us edge to the Warriors

this year because I don't think people are talking about them as, hey, can they rip off three? Can they rip off four? People have now mentally moved on to Spurs, Cavs, Clippers, the Rockets. OKC's back. OKC's back. Yeah, OKC, Durant's healthy. And Ibaka's back.

Maybe these conversations are happening and I'm not hearing them or maybe they're going to happen and we're just not there yet. I haven't heard anybody say or write or anything the whole case of, hey, wait a second, the Warriors won last year and they brought everybody back. All they did was basically flip David Lee into Jason Thompson as their 10th guy. Other than that, everyone's back.

So why isn't the Warriors the favorite again? Well, they still are the favorite, right? Are they the championship favorite? Let me look and see right now. No, they're not. The Cavs are the favorite. Cavs are plus 250. And they're 4.5 to 2.

I mean, they're 4.5 to 1. Cavs are plus 250. And they're 4.5 to 2. I mean, they're 4.5 to 1. Cavs are plus 250. Yeah, Spurs are plus 350. The Warriors are plus 550. OKC's plus 750. The Clips are plus 1,200. Chicago's plus 2,000. Houston's plus 2,200.

Memphis is plus 35. What was Houston? Plus 22. You're betting on Dwight Howard, Ty Lawson, and James Hart, just to remind you. I don't like Ty Lawson under these circumstances. Memphis is plus 35. Miami

is plus 4,000. They're an interesting Eastern dark horse. I think that spreads to it. The one that intrigues me out of all of these is New Orleans is plus 4,500. And I'm not saying they're going to win the title. I just think they're a contender this year. There are more modest plays that make sense for New Orleans,

not to win the NBA championship. No, I'm just saying best value. I think they're a contender this year. I think they should be. If you're going to say the Clippers are a contender and the Rockets are a contender, I think New Orleans needs to be in that group, too. I don't think so at all.

Well, that's why we talk about this stuff. New Orleans needs to win a playoff series before we start talking about any kind of success in the playoffs. I mean, they haven't been in however many years. They made it last year by winning the 82nd game. There's nothing about Anthony Davis I don't love. The headlines on the NBA page today, Davis working on three-pointer. Yeah, of course he is because he's exceptional. He's so good, and he's got that stroke,

and he's going to be so ferocious all season long. But, you know, they need to earn their way into it a little bit. They're not even really in the mix. All right. All fair points. Here's my counter. They upgraded from Monty Williams to Alvin Gentry. That's an upgrade.

I think Alvin Gentry is a good coach. Like, the Phoenix almost made the finals in 2010. That guy's legit. I like Alvin Gentry. I really like him. Davis is going to make a leap from where he came from last year, which he was a legitimate MVP candidate. I think we both agree he's the next great guy, right?

Oh, we do, yes. He's the next guy, right? We're both agreeing. For sure. So if you're the next guy, at some point in the first five years, you're making a run before everybody thinks you're ready to make a run. It's like, oh, you're making a run now? I didn't realize.

Oh, really? And that's why I think New Orleans has to be taken seriously because when was he? He was 2012 draft, right? 13, 14, 15. This is year four for him. You know, look at other great... He's only 21.

I mean, last year was his age 21 season. Right. But look at the other great players who we thought weren't ready, who all of a sudden were super ready. Like, everybody's like, OKC, they're not ready. Uh-oh.

OKC's in the finals? And then they were in the finals. Yeah. Oh, Jordan's not ready. Oh, Jordan's battling the Pistons. You know, it happens sooner than you think. And that's my only point with the Pelicans. I don't think they're going to win the title.

I just think the odds are good. If you're telling me OKC is plus 750 and the Pelicans are plus 4500, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me because I have no idea if Kevin Durant can play 20 games in a row and you don't either you're using you don't know either I agree

there's no scenario under which I would advise anybody to spend $1 on I'm just talking about value last year we bet on the Warriors 28-1 because not only was that great value, but we actually thought they had a chance to play in the finals. That's true. But there's no scenario under which I think New Orleans can play in the finals.

Would you bet your life on it? Yes, I would bet my life on it. I would bet my life. How weird is it going to be if they make the finals now? Like, I have to come to Washington and murder you. A team with Tyreek Evans and Eric Gordon, I'll take my odds with that. Well, here's the thing, though. We don't know if that's going to be their team in February, March, right?

Like, Gordon's an expiring. Like, there's moves that might happen that we don't know about. But I know that Anthony Davis is on that team, and I know the roster's a expiring. Like there's moves that might happen that we don't know about, but I know that Anthony Davis is on that team and I know the roster is a little malleable. I think it's much harder to trade expiring contracts than it used to be. Well, I, I'd like to revisit this,

the trade deadline. I mean, I would, if my life is at stake, I want to know whether or not, uh, come February right now. I bet my life,

maybe not. So in February, it's a pure Anthony Davis pick. I love it. I just think like they're 45 to one. The Hawks are 45 to one. That's idiotic. The Hawks aren't going to win the title.

No. The Hawks aren't going to be as good as they were last year. They are not going to be as good as they were last year. Do you like, do you like New Orleans or Memphis more? Uh. I say, I think the Memphis window is over. I like Anthony Davis more. But I have come to learn that you disrespect Memphis.

You tread lightly. I've shown them too much respect. They had another great regular season last year. Yeah. 55 wins. And then Conley broke his face. Right. Yeah, I wonder, though.

That team is skewing older. Gasol just signed a big deal. I don't know. I worry about that team. So Portland's going to fall out of the playoff picture there. Yeah. And... about that team. So Portland's going to fall out of the playoff picture there. And Dallas is going to Dallas is going to fall out.

And the Dallas situation is fascinating because the Celtics have their pick, top seven protected for this season. Dallas is going to have to make a decision very early whether they want to throw the season away or not. How can they do that to Dirk? Well. How can they do that to Dirk? Well, how can you do that to Dirk?

Especially with this Volkswagen thing that's going on right now. I mean, that guy's in a lot of pain. He feels the pain of all of Germany around Volkswagen's shameful emissions. Yeah, it's the most shameful car crisis we've ever had. It's 40 times the amount of pollutants getting just discharged into the sky as they tell everyone they're buying clean cars. So Portland bounces out

and I think Dallas bounces out. Which leaves spots open for Oklahoma City and then one more team. The candidates are the Phoenix Suns who just seem like a chemistry experiment that blew up yeah that blew up this is the suns like two years ago they were getting all of this praise for

having four picks in the top whatever 17 of that you know allegedly loaded draft. And they immediately reeled off 41 wins and 39 wins or 42 wins, and they're exactly in the position you cannot be in if you hope to be a successful NBA franchise, which is the mediocre middle. And they're stuck. Players are leaving. They're doing crazy stuff in the front office. Three point guards last season.

I have no idea what the hell the game plan is there, even now. Well, somebody's got to get the eight seats. So Utah's kind of seems to be the consensus make a jump pick. And then we should talk about the Sacramento Kings. Let's talk about the Kings for a second, and then we can wrap this podcast up. Sure. They added Rayjean rondo they added willie collie stein wow they added bella nelly uh what else did they do they added vladdy devatch

as one of the most powerful guys in sports um they have just they decided to basically just throw away chemistry and stats completely George Carr all they kept him and DeMarcus Cousins is a head on collision the likes of which we haven't seen in a while

and yet I kind of like the team it's so weird they have so much talent like I'm very excited to watch them and nothing would surprise me with them

they go 20 and 62 I'm not surprised they go 50 and 32 I'm not surprised I They go 50 and 32, I'm not surprised. I don't know what to make of that team. Yeah, it was so impressive what DeMarcus did last season. He really did make that leap and he kind of made it by himself. He had to be self-motivated. He had to keep his head down.

He had to keep the discipline, Not get into any of the trouble. And he just really played his ass off and they still only won 29 games. They did him a disservice. He's just had so many coaches and GMs and game plans and everything. I would not blame him for wanting to be out.

I mean, sorry. All due respect to the Sacramento fans, but if this situation becomes unstable, then he should want to leave, I would think. At some point, he's got to try a different team. Sure, and they ought to permit him to leave. It would be good for your team, I'll tell you that much. Oh, God.

That's the move that's sitting there. The Bradley Beal? Yeah, Beal and the Nene contract. Yeah. Have to think about that if I'm the Kings, too. Why? If I know I'm, if the Cousins thing is unsalvageable. Oh, you have to think about it.

Yeah, sure, sure. Yeah, and I can get Bradley Beal in an expiring form. I'm thinking about it. It kind of depends on the extension that the Washington's get with Beal, because it still hasn't done yet. He wants a max extension. They're not there yet. I love John Wilde. Do you see what he did with the $400,000 donation?

Yes. Yeah. I love him, too. He continues to do great things like that in this community, and people here absolutely adore him. Yeah. And, you know, it really hurts to lose Paul Pierce. So I'm not entering this season with overwhelming enthusiasm and confidence. I felt a lot better the way we came in last season.

But, yeah, there's no stealing on what wall and be able together can do and if beal is finally done growing because this is the thing he hasn't been able to play um you know a majority of an 82 game season yet and yet showed a little something something in the spring and and you know another very good playoff performance yeah good playoff performances, his first two opportunities. So there's obviously something great lurking in there. He got to go play with the national team this summer.

He's getting a lot of great reps with all the right kinds of guys. He made a point of going on record in September, early September. I'm going to stop taking these terrible long twos. Yeah. These inefficient twos.

So, yeah, I'm bullish on Beal if he can stay healthy. He has? So he might turn himself into. Go ahead. You sold him enough. The Kings fans are fine with it now. You did your job. It's a very fair trade.

I got to say, it's a fair trade. But only a fair trade if the Cousins thing is unsalvageable because you're always gonna want the big guy over the perimeter guy in this situation unless the perimeter guy is awesome we'll know in the first 20 games whether it's salvageable or not right yeah you'd think

wait you're talking about Sacramento yeah cause DeMarcus will let us know he'll tell us yes I think he'll tell us. Yes. I think he'll show us some signs. In the forms of, I just smelled a bad fart face, and I'm gesturing at my coach, gestures that shouldn't be happening,

and I'm not going to run back on defense this time. And, yeah, I think there will be some signs. There will be some signs. I think so. Well, I love Bo'll be some signs. I think so. Well, I love Boogie. I love Boogie too. That's my dude. I hope he ends up in the right situation.

If he ended up on the same team with Wall, that would be amazing. That would be amazing. But I also hope it's also going to be amazing to watch him play with Rondo and Ben McLemore

and Willie Colley-Stein and all this crazy team they put together. And they also made my favorite trade in the last couple years when they gave away the number eight pick of the 2014 draft, Nick Stauskas, along with at least one future first-round pick to dump two contracts.

It's so funny when super, super successful guys get in these sports franchises and just lose their mind. Just lose their mind just lose their mind yeah they made a trade to create cap space to sign wesley matthews who then signed with dallas and then they signed marco bellinelli and whoever else instead and it was unprecedented because usually you make those trades after you know the guy's coming and then all right look we're gonna clear cap space for you and And by the way, Philly does that trade a week later, a month

later, two months later. At every point of the season, they're going to be like, oh, you're just going to give us Nick Stauskas and picks for nothing? Great. We suck anyway. We'll take Nick Stauskas. Of course, of course, of course. He fits the profile of exactly what they're trying to do.

We have a lot of NBA left to discuss. We do, and I want to go on record for that eighth seed. I'm not ready to throw dirt on Dallas. Okay. This early in the season, I'm not ready to do that. Can you give us your 30-second take on DeAndre Jordan? I don't have a 30-second take. I have a 45-minute take.

All right, we'll save that for the next time. It was an amazing tour. What a journey. What a a, you know, 45 minute take. We'll save that for the next time. Amazing tour. What a journey. What a journey. You know what? Next time we'll structure this podcast. Um, the Friday pod we'll do,

we'll quickly run through the preliminary picks. We'll do our five money picks and we'll talk about them in detail and then we'll get to NBA. I think this should be a football slash basketball pod. Sure. Right brain, left brain. Let's get her done.

All right. We'll be, we'll be, uh, we'll be, uh, we'll do, well, when are we going to do over-unders? When do we usually do that? Like October 20th? Yeah. Somewhere in that range, right? Like the third week of October, right before the season starts. Cause by then, um, contract stuff, it gets settled out and injury stuff is settled out a little bit. Pre-season injury stuff. We have a much better perspective on it. Joe House, as always a pleasure. Uh, yeah, look, it's on it. Joe House, as always, a pleasure.

Yeah, look, it's the weekend, so let's go out proper. All right. Before we go, I wanted to say thanks again to Topps NFL Huddle for sponsoring today's episode. Collect and trade officially licensed NFL cards with football fans around the globe. Use your collection to compete in daily fantasy-style games and keep coming back for new cards, free coins, and maybe even rare inserts.

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download podcast on iTunes. You can listen to it on SoundCloud. This was fun. It's great to be back. Thanks for all the emails and the comments really appreciated them and enjoy the weekend