The Bill Simmons Podcast - NBA Predictions and NFL Draft Takes With Kevin O'Connor and Mike Lombardi (Ep. 206)

Episode Date: April 28, 2017

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Kevin O'Connor to break down the somewhat-uneventful first round of the NBA playoffs (01:00), Game 6 for Chris Paul (05:30), Golden State's chance at sweeping the playoffs (11:30), what's wrong with James Harden (15:30), a must-win game for the Celtics against the Bulls (22:00), and the Raptors eliminating the Bucks (30:00). Then, Mike Lombardi joins the show to talk about Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears (41:00), the Panthers taking Christian McCaffrey (57:30), the Texans taking Deshaun Watson (60:00), and Al Davis's eating schedule (1:11:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of Friday Rolling on the BS Podcast is brought to you by SeatGeek. That's our presenting sponsor and the best way to find the best tickets for Caps, Penguins, Celts, Wiz, Rocket Spurs, any MLB game, Hamilton, you name it. I have SeatGeek on my phone. It is the easiest way to shop for the best tickets thanks to their revolutionary grading system. Buy and sell tickets in just two taps on your phone. Two taps.

Everything is fully guaranteed. Try it out. Download the SeatGeek app today or go right to SeatGeek.com. We're also brought to you by TheRinger.com. That's where I posted a long piece about Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers as they head into tonight's pivotal game six,

possibly another season ender. The column is called Last days of the point God, and you can check it out on the ringer.com. I'm going to talk about, uh, there was a list of best point guards in that column too, that, uh, that I might talk about during this podcast, or I might say for house can't come on today, but maybe next week house that I can talk about it because in my book Stockton, I think was the fifth highest point guard. And I think either two or three people have jumped them and it's a fun podcast. So I'm going to have to bang that out with somebody. Anyway, last days of the point God read that on the ringer.com speaking on the ringer.com.

We put up a ton of NFL draft stuff over these last couple of days, including a lot of videos online too. Mike Lombardi is coming in later to talk about the first round of the NFL draft. But if you missed any of that stuff, go to theringer.com and there's an NFL draft tag you can check out and listen to the Ringer NFL show where last night Robert Mays dropped

probably the most anguished F-bomb I've ever heard on any of our podcasts. He was so upset that the Bears traded up for Mitch Trubisky that he dropped an F-bomb and Kevin Clark and Mike Lombardi both went, oh, like they kind of groaned in fear. It was scary. Anyway, the Ringer NFL show. And last but not least, we'd like to announce we have a new podcast

that we are launching next week with our old friend, Cousin Sal. Oh, yeah. It's called Against All Odds with Cousin Sal. You're not going to believe this, but it's going to be a gambling podcast. And he's going to be doing it every week. And you can subscribe to it right now. The feed is live. Subscribe to it on iTunes.

Subscribe to it on Stitcher, SoundCloud, Overcast, Spotify, Google Play, wherever you get your pods. That feed is live. And he's putting up the first one next week. And it's going to include some of your favorites. NBA playoffs, NBA futures, NHL, Canelo versus Chavez, Kentucky Derby. He's going to have all kinds of guests over the course of the next year that love to gamble. Maybe some experts, maybe some degenerates. And if you ever doubted that Cousin Sal had a gambling problem, doubt it no more because he actually has his own podcast, Against All Odds with Cousin Sal.

Subscribe to it now. Check it out. Without further ado, here's Pearl Jam. All right, we're taping this at 12.15 East Coast time, 9.15 West Coast time. The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor is on the line. Kevin, I'm starting to think you might have some potential as a writer. I'm starting to think. Some of those pieces. No, I'm just kidding. you might have some potential as a writer. I'm starting to think. Some of those pieces. No, I'm just kidding. The pieces have been great. You're hitting your stride.

You've been on the Ringer NBA show, and I'm stealing you from the Ringer NBA show for this one. Kind of a boring first round. I think we have a tendency during the playoffs to go, but the games have not been, for the most part, that great. Has that been a series that has surprised you from a quality standpoint? Not really. I was hoping Houston and Oklahoma City would go longer than five games.

I was hoping for an epic MVP battle. We didn't get that. Cleveland sweeps. Golden State sweeps. Toronto-Milwaukee. Cleveland, sweep. Golden State, sweep. Toronto, Milwaukee started out. I think that arguably was the most fun series for basketball reasons and for trash talk

off the court as well between fans. Even that only went six. Not really. It's been a little disappointing. Clips Jazz, I think if the Clips can somehow pull one of the great performances from Chris Paul out of him tonight, they could win. I went to Game 2 and I went to Game 5.

I wrote about it for the Ringer as well, about how I feel like it's kind of the end of the line for this team. And I think what surprised me and what I kind of based a column around was that I just felt like it's so hard for the Clippers to score without Blake, especially if Redick's off and when you don't know what you're getting from Crawford. I just assumed that was going to be a game where Chris Paul went in and said, from the get-go, I'm shooting 27 times. I have to score 40 points in this game.

I think there's a difference between efficiency and dominance. And I think Chris Paul is one of the most efficient players I've ever watched in my life. He's probably in the top three, top four, top five, just from steadiness and just how good he is game to game. But there are times when you just have to put the team on your back and do the damn thing. He didn't do it in game five. Does he do it in game six? Could you see it happening?

I mean, we could see it happening. I mean, like you kind of alluded to in the column, if he did in the fourth quarter what he did in the first three quarters of that game, then perhaps they win that game. Maybe he adds an additional five points to put them ahead of Utah. At the same time, I mean, I look at the game the Clippers played, and I'm thinking what more could they have gotten other than the 40-point performance from Chris Paul or Jamal Crawford not just spanking it up

off the bench. Because, you know, Doc Rivers looks down at his – looks down at the roster sheet. You know, they got the 26 points out of J.J. Renick after he got off the post-star series. They had a good game from Chris Paul. Granted, it wasn't the 40-point game, but then after that, I mean, what can you really expect? Maurice Bates?

I mean, Jamal Crawford, more inconsistent now, not a consistent six-man candidate. He's not going to light it up every night. Austin Rivers in his first game back. Raymond Felton, old Paul Pierce playing 14 minutes. Oh, my God. I don't see what you can expect from the rest of that team. That's why you need that 40-plus points from Chris Paul.

Yeah, I mean, getting 26 from Redick was a bonus. You figure either Redick or Crawford has to get to somewhere in the 25 range. But I think Doc's done a bad job coaching this team this year. And I thought he did a terrible job in game five. The players that he was putting out, the combinations weren't right. And he even admitted it after the game. He said that his mistake was Chris was handling the ball all the time because Blake's not in the series anymore.

And that if he had to do it over again, he would have somebody help him with the ball all the time because Blake's not in the series anymore and that if he had to do it over again he would have somebody help him with the ball handling now I could have told him that before game five why start Pierce and Mbamute and DeAndre Jordan now you're playing two on five and Redick's running around screens and Chris Paul it's much easier to stop

Chris Paul I thought River should have started if you don't start Rivers, start Crawford, but you need that second guy. You need to play Chris off the ball more. The problem for them now is Utah's gaining confidence. I saw them three times in the

last month. I should, with this caveat, say I don't think they can win a game from Golden State. They might win one, so I don't want to make it seem like they're peaking as a possible contender. But they are better than they were at the start of this series and even a month ago.

There's a patience with them now. They're used to the reps of the playoffs. They don't get rattled if something's going wrong. Like in that fourth quarter of the Clips game, Chris hit a couple threes in a row and got the crowd into it, and the Jazz just kind of settled it down. They know what to do. They have that Joe Johnson little high screen

slowdown play. They got Hayward running around on screens. Go Bears able to get offensive boards. It's a good team. It's a nice well-rounded team and my pick would be that I think they beat the Clippers by double figures tonight. Do you see any chance the Clips win tonight?

They just really need that big night from Chris Paul or JJ Reddick just to go nuclear from three-point range. Or Crawford. Jamal Crawford. Yeah, Jamal Crawford can have those nights too. At the same time, he's only had one of them this entire series. I think, to your point with Utah, I think Quinn Snyder deserves a lot of credit with these guys.

When you look at their entire season as a whole, this is really the healthiest they've been all year long, and yet they've maintained great success throughout the season dealing with injuries from different guys. Hayward missed some games. Gore Baer is really the only guy who didn't miss time. George Hill missed quite a few games. Derek Favors missed time.

Everybody missed time on that roster at one point, yet they always maintained success, and I think that speaks to Quinn Snyder's ability as a head games, Derek Favors missed time. Everybody missed time on that roster at one point, yet they always maintained success. And I think that speaks to Quinn Snyder's ability as a head coach, his ability to put guys in positions to succeed, maximize their strength. A lot of the things that are said about Brad Stevens in the East, I think Quinn Snyder kind of is that coach in the West. And I think really he's maybe one of the top five to ten coaches in the league, and even though he doesn't get that much hype,

he deserves a lot of the credit for their playoff success and regular season success. I agree. I was really impressed with how he handled game five because especially when Chris started to get going a little late there but still in the fourth, you know, it had the makings to a young team or a panic team like they could have fallen apart and they just didn't. And Utah is a tough place to play.

They have, they, they've really kind of figured out their bench. The bench doesn't really hurt them anymore. And, uh, and they have multiple scores that they can go to. I saw Joe who, it feels like he's scoring 30 points a game and it's like, he's scoring 12, but you know, that, that little thing they run at the end, you know, the Clippers knew it was coming. They're down three, 20 seconds left. They know the little, they're going to try to get the flip

and try to get Mbamute off Johnson. And all of a sudden Johnson's just wide open at the foul line. Like he just slips off it. It's really dangerous. I don't think that they have any chance to beat the Warriors. And I think they're probably going to get swept

because I don't think they're going to be able to control the pace. The one problem with Utah in a matchup like that, I just think Golden State can kind of ratchet it up. And I don't think that the Jazz need to play that kind of deliberate. They'll get a couple fast break plays, but for the most part,

it's like a deliberate pace, and they pound the boards. Golden State's just going to be ready for it. And I really think there's a chance Golden State could at least be 8-0 after the second round. What do you think? Yeah, so I know you think you guys talked about on a recent podcast the possibility of gold state going 16 and 0 in the playoffs and that's absolutely a possibility i think i think gold uh utah can compete with them i think their game their first matchup this season showed that

they can compete when they have guys that go off the problem is a couple days after that game in december gold state blew them out by 30 points. And I think those are the types of games that Gold, that's the level of Golden State that now. They're really clicking on all cylinders. Everybody's healthy. They have ratcheted up their defense. I think that they even, to an extent,

have yet to unleash some of the things that they can potentially do down the line, whereas Utah, what more can they really do besides i think really you know pushing the pace more in transition because they do slow it down quite a quite often but at the same time does that play the golden state strength if you're playing their fast-paced game right is that are you playing into their hands by doing that and changing what you do or or would you be better off doing what you do better and just kind of trying to control the pace that you have been all year long. Isn't the model those last couple Cleveland Warriors games in the finals last year?

I would be studying that Game 7 tape and how slow and deliberate the Cavs were to the point that it was almost comical, but it really kind of threw the Warriors off their rhythm. You have one team that's taking their time and slaving over every possession. And then the Warriors would come up and somebody jacks up a three with 18 seconds left. They miss all of a sudden the Cavs would have it back and it's another 20 seconds and they're grinding it down. Utah could do that. I just think the Warriors are so good defensively right now. And they're hungry. The biggest thing that's happened to them,

it's weird to think that Durant's injury was a good thing for them. I don't think an injury is ever a good thing, but it did enable the natural balance of their team to fall into place. And Curry is playing the best he's played really since the 25 game winning streak at the start of last season. I mean, he's out of his mind again and they really feed off that. They feed off the threat of him just being this home run hitter, this guy who's going to go five for six in a game with three homers and 10 RBIs. Like he's having those again. And then you throw in Durant, you throw in how hungry they are just collectively. And you know, I, they'll never say it, but I think they're thinking about 16-0

because this team is always a team that shoots big. And it's ridiculous. You're right. 16-0 shouldn't happen. I don't think it's conceivable. But the 2001 Lakers in a weaker league almost did it. You know, they came within an overtime game in game one of the finals when the game when Iverson stepped over Ty Lue.

That was the only time we've ever seen a team really make a run at it. Even the 86 Celtics lost, I think, three times. So if they get to eight now, I think they're going to be starting to think about it. What a great way after blowing 73-9 when you could have had this iconic, the greatest season and start to finish anyone's ever had, and you blow it in Game 7, what a great way to get redemption for that, if they could even sniff 16-0. But you say it's impossible. You think it's impossible. I don't know if it's impossible. I just think that you have to drop one at one point.

I mean, if you get matched up with Houston in the Western Conference Finals, I feel like that they can have at least one game where they shoot like 45% from three. And this year, they're undefeated this season when they shoot above

40% from three. They're 21-0. And I just feel like there's going to be at least one of those games where a team just goes off. Or if it's against Cleveland in the finals,

LeBron is LeBron. Golden State, this season, they've had like at least two of their superstars on the floor nearly most of the finals. LeBron is LeBron. Golden State, this season, they've had at least two of their superstars on the floor nearly most of the time. Whether it's Seth and KD or KD and Draymond or Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, they

always almost have two or three and then when they have four, that's when they go absolutely crazy on the floor. They're a totally roasting team. And we're seeing more of that in the playoffs, the four-man lineup with all four stars, because they can play more minutes.

But I just think that, you know, with the variance of the potential matchup against Houston, or the fact that San Antonio can still have, you know, really strong performances, and a potential, you know, matchup with Cleveland, they have to drop one. It just seems realistic that they drop one at least. 16-1, still incredible.

But 16-0, I feel like there's going to be at least one that comes along the line where a team just goes off. Yeah, Houston's built for that. They're built for the crazy James Harden game. They're built for the game when they go 25 for 47 from three. They're built for the game where they're losing, and then Lou Williams comes in and scores 20 points in six minutes. Like they, I think it would be a very hard team to sweep.

With that said, I was not impressed with how they finished that OKC series. I really, I really thought they as game four and game five, I just thought they looked terrible. I thought Harden looked terrible. Like he was really bad in those last two games. They were sloppy in the last two minutes of each game.

Game four, they were so sloppy that it almost defied belief. And then they kind of did the same thing in game five, just dumb brain farts. And I wonder if their destiny, whether it happens against San Antonio or against Golden State in round three, is the team that should have won the series, but they screwed it up. Could you see that?

Yeah, I mean, I can see Houston having trouble. I think their pick and roll is kind of, I don't want to say it's falling apart, but Oklahoma City kind of unveiled, I think, how to perhaps contain it, just staying home on the shooters and kind of forcing Harden to do everything in some ways. And I wonder if San Antonio kind of copies that formula. But at the same time, San Antonio doesn't have Steven Adams. They have a bunch of Enos Cantors. They have Paul Gasol, David Lee, and LaMarcus Aldridge is not a great defender.

So I don't know what they would want to do or what the formula might be would actually work for them next round. And obviously I think Golden State can do that. They can do anything defensively with their versatility. But for the next round, I have a hard time seeing San Antonio do the same things that Oklahoma City was able to do, especially because Kawhi is going to have to defend and do everything on offense. He's going to have to defend and do everything on offense.

He's going to have to be Andre Roberson on defense and still be Kawhi Leonard on offense. And that's a lot to ask for a guy over a potential seven-game series. I'm lukewarm on San Antonio. So much of their ceiling depends on how their point guards play because it's a point guards league now. And Parker looked great last night. It was old-school Tony is year 16. You know, he brought it out, but I don't think he can do that more than once or twice in a series. You know, Patty Mills is a

little steadier, but he's certainly not explosive either. And it just seems like so much of that load falls on Kawhi, which is fine. Everybody has, you know, once you get to the second round, everybody's got a guy that's carrying a huge offensive load. The difference for them is that he's also carried the biggest defensive load, you know, and he's covering up a lot of sins. I don't think it should have been that hard to beat Memphis. You know, Chris Vernon's going to get pissed, but I just didn't think Memphis was very good.

I thought it was a two-man team with a bunch of, you know, seventh, eighth, ninth men. The fact that they were paying Parsons 20-plus millions a year not to play was a real dagger. Not having Tony Allen was a real dagger. I mean, you could argue those were two of their, maybe their third best guy and their fifth best guy. And, and San Antonio still had just a lot of trouble. Now you could say it's the familiarity of it or that, you know, Memphis has some size and Conley's so good and was such a bad matchup for, for San Antonio. But at the same time, at this point, everybody has a creator like Conley, and they had just tons of trouble matching up with him. And to me, this is like set up on a platter for Houston.

I don't know what's wrong with Harden, though. I don't think he's playing that well, and I don't know if they're being 100% honest about how healthy he is. Does he look right to you? No, absolutely not. He had the hand or wrist injury, too, that he's learned the rap for, correct? And I wonder,

he mentioned his ankle after the game. I wonder if the wrist would affect his shot more than the ankle or his burst. I mean, look, it does look like he doesn't have the same level of burst, but at the same time, so much of his game has been so dependent on changing speed, stopping and going that i feel like we i still see that when i watch him play i think the

issue is that he's just not hitting shots and that's the most amazing thing looking back at that rocket thunder series is that they shot like around 28 percent from three yeah they were not good this year when they shot below 30 i mentioned earlier that they were 21-0 when they shot above 40%. They were 4-12 when they shot below 30% from three, yet they won the series in five games, which I think does a lot about Oklahoma City as a performance in their roster as well. So Harden needs to figure it out, whether it's his wrist getting healthy or healing up his ankle, as he mentioned.

He doesn't seem right. At the same time, though, I wonder how much of that is our perception of just him not hitting shots. And if those shots do fall, maybe we're perceiving his performance a little bit differently. Maybe it's not the MVP level James Harden that we saw during the year. But I think we would think a little more highly of how he performed if some of those shots that he normally hits actually went down. You know how we can track basically everything right now,

including how an NBA player shoots if they farted in the first half, and we just have stats for everything. The one stat that I wish we could see more, and maybe it's too hard to keep track of, but front-rimming shots. I always feel like front-rimming shots is the sign. You know, like A.V. Bradley came back from when he hurt his Achilles,

and he's just front-rimming shots for like a month. And then finally started to get a little more lift. And, you know, same thing with Isaiah, who I think looked really worn out to me in game five. I think he's been flying around a lot. He had to fly back to Washington, obviously mentally drained from the terrible stuff that's happened with his family,

and he's just front-rimming. Now you look at the Celtics. They had this game tonight against Chicago, a team that they should beat, considering in game five they didn't even make threes, and they still won pretty convincingly. The Celtics, as you know, when they don't make threes, anybody can beat them. And they were still able to hold off the Bulls. I think that they need, this is a must win for me tonight with the Celtics because if they lose, Isaiah's flying to Washington tomorrow for the funeral for his sister and then has to fly back to Boston. And that's a one o'clock game on Sunday.

You know, there's going to be a lot to ask the emotion of a game seven. You have somebody who's flown all the way to the Pacific Northwest, flying all the way back to the East coast. And the fact that the Bulls can just ugly it up and, you know, who knows with Jimmy Butler, who knows if Dwayne Wade can pull another type of game five out of them. I think that's a dangerous game. I think they're better than the Bulls and they should, I think they have to close it tonight.

What do you think? So one note on the front-rimming thing, there's one site out there, impredictable.com, that has done some studies on sport view data on front-rimming, misses on free throws and left-to-right misses, like with Andre Drummond, Rajon Rondo, DeAndre Jordan. It's interesting stuff, what people can do with sport view. That data's not available anymore.

It can't be pulled from NBA.com, but teams obviously have access to that data, and I daydream about the possibilities of things that can be done with that. Do you agree with me on the front-rooming thing? My dad has been on this since the 70s. If you're front-rooming shots, it's like,

front-room, front-room, something's wrong. I think front-rooming can be a side of tired legs yeah for sure i think you know if you're missing to the left or right that's when you're really having issues with your shooting mechanics i i've tracked i've tracked front rim back rim left right misses with a couple guys over the years like jared sullinger's one guy who front rimmed almost all his threes yeah i think that was largely a weight and conditioning issue for him, and that was really one of the causes there. But for some guys, if they're missing short,

it can be a mechanical issue. I don't think it's necessarily a front-run issue. You mentioned Isaiah Thomas has that. I think with him, it happens a lot in transition. I think it's something with his balance. If you look at his pull-up three-point numbers in the half court, he's really good. Oh, no, the transition is awful, right? He's good in the half court. Transition's horrible. Transition's like 28% ever since he's been traded to Boston. But in the half court, it's pretty good.

I don't know if that's something with the angle he attacks or coming off screens or the fact that he's kind of going more full speed in transition. But that's something I think he would have to work out, playing full speed practice in the gym during the summer and trying to figure out what's going on there. That's a big shot for him. He takes that a lot. And sometimes I think it's become a detriment to the transition scoring efficiency. And they try to push the pace so much in transition

that I think that's something that he really needs to work on this off season, heading into next year for the Celtics. Yeah. I bet he solves that. I've watched a ton of Celtics this year and the shots that miss are him on fast break with these wild pull up threes when he's off balance. Jake, any Jay Crowder contested three, which is going to give my dad his first heart attack at some point. Olenek, if he misses his first two, will miss his next

200. And Marcus Smart, if he's not in the corner. Marcus Smart in the corner is actually good. I don't mind when he takes that. If he's anywhere else around the circle, it's definitely a no, no, no, no, no, no, no, yes

shot. Celtics-Wiz, assuming that's it, I think Atlanta wins tonight. Do you agree that Atlanta wins tonight? That feels like that one goes seven. Yeah, it feels like a seven-game series to me. I think, to get back to what you said earlier, I think Bulls could pull it out too,

but without Rondo, it's going to be hard. I do see Atlanta-Washington going seven games. Yeah, the Bulls have been absolutely... It's pretty sad that they've been crippled by the Rondo it's going to be hard but I do see Atlanta-Washington going 7 games Yeah the Bulls have been absolutely it's pretty sad that they've been crippled by the Rondo injury considering they were barely even playing them until like about 5 weeks before the season ended

it's hard for me to believe that Cameron Payne can't play I think to play Isaiah Cannon and Carter Williams and not even throw Cameron Payne out there, he must be in one of the all-time funks. But that guy was talented and was taking one spot after Devin Booker and seemed like he had a lot of potential and a lot of moxie,

and he's just broken now. Are you surprised that he's like the seventh-string point guard on that team? I liked Payne. I liked Payne in the draft a lot. I think I would have taken him a lot of a handful of guys that maybe went in front of him. I think he still has upside.

Point guards take a long time to develop, but at the same time, seeing him last on the depth chart of the Chicago Bulls, a team that it looks like they don't even know how to evaluate their own team because Jerry and Grant comes in and starts game four, I think it was, for five five minutes then doesn't play the rest of the game carter williams is playing ahead of um cannon who is now starting it's just baffling that they i think that

they're these decisions show that they aren't able to evaluate evaluate their own point guards in their own roster where they trade two rotation players for Cameron Payne and he's not even playing now. It's kind of baffling what has happened to that situation when at one point it seemed like Rondo was probably a goner.

And now they can't figure out who to play after him. It's something else. I would play... I can't believe they're playing Cannon or Grant. I would play Carter Williams even though on offense

you just basically have them stand out of bounds. Like, please don't shoot. Don't touch the ball. But defensively, I think he's bothered Isaiah. And I would rather at least have somebody out there who's good at one thing versus people who are good at nothing. But I still would play Cameron Payne over both of them. Wiz Celtics would just be incredible fun. And you wouldn't be sending the tapes to the Basketball Hall of Fame, but I think it would be a rollercoaster ride. A lot of it would depend on who's shooting well. John Wall would be spectacular because John Wall versus Avery would be great.

There's bad blood on both sides. Gortat's always killed the Celtics. Bradley Beal kills the Celtics. He's like the one guy that they've never really, out of all the two guards, he's the one guy they've never really figured out how to stop. And I think that would be wonderful. I got to say, a Celtics-Hawks series,

I'm just not excited for it. I feel like I've been there. I know what the ceiling of it is. I just wouldn't be excited. Would you be excited for that one? In some ways, I honestly think Atlanta could be a tougher series for the Celtics.

I feel like there's more ways to beat them. So that's why you're not excited for it. You don't want Atlanta to beat Boston. Yeah, it would bother me more. You're right. That would annoy me more. Washington has no bench. Yeah.

They have no bench. Washington can't beat Boston's bench with the guys that they're rolling out there. I think Celtics would be a fun series, but I don't know if it would even go seven, Celtics and Wizards. It'd go six, perhaps. Yeah, Washington, you're just going to basically tell Otto Porter and Oubre Jr., who I like,

but you're telling both of those guys beat us. We're going to give you threes. Take them. Go ahead. We know you did well in the regular season, Otto, but now this is a game four on ABC on Sunday. There's a lot of people watching. Good luck.

Make five threes against us. Atlanta has all these guys who just seem kind of fearless. You know? Just one guy after another is just not afraid. I still feel like the Dwight Bola virus is going to get them. It'll bite them. That's why I'm not worried about Atlanta. I don't see Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference Finals.

I just can't imagine it. It's too weird. Hey, Bucks-Raptors. Raptors won the last three. I thought the Raptors had the best chance of anybody to beat Cleveland. And I thought they were a very good dark horse pick to win the East. These last three games, it looked like they kind of found their groove again.

What did you see? And do you think that, have you raised their ceiling? In some ways, yeah. In other ways, no. And the reason why, yes, is because they started moving the ball. In some ways,

they started looking like a different offensive team. The way they were moving the ball side to side was a lot less isolation action. And that's, I think, the way you kind of need to play nowadays. But then again, they went away from that last night, and that's when Milwaukee kind of made their incredible comeback. They fell short, obviously, but Toronto went away from what was working. And that's something, look, passing the ball is something I think that, you know, is a habit that's built over the course of

the season. And I was surprised that they were able to change stylistically so much in the middle of a playoff series. Is that something that they can get back to looking ahead? Maybe. But at the same time, maybe not. Maybe if Cleveland flips the switch on defense, you know, and LeBron starts turning it on and everybody falls in line behind him, maybe suddenly. Maybe if Cleveland flips the switch on defense, you know, and LeBron starts turning it on and everybody falls in line behind him, maybe suddenly they fall back into their isolation ways and it's really not even that close. I could see that happening, but if Toronto

moves the ball like they did, I think they definitely can push Cleveland. But that's what they need to do, and I'm just not convinced that's real. Especially when we've seen all year how much isolation they play, how much they're so dependent on DeRozan creating at the end of the clock and pulling up from mid-range

like a late 90s, early 2000s scorer. That's fine. It's worked for them. But they need to move the ball side to side and continue what they did in those middle games of the series. This is going to hurt your feelings. You know who killed the Bucs in those last couple games?

Brogdon. He wasn't ready. He did. He wasn't ready. I don't blame him. He was put in a big spot, but they needed him to play well. They needed a second guy to do some stuff. Giannis was, even though he had a couple games when he missed shots,

but for the most part, just spectacular. I tweeted last night, like, to me, it's a lock that that guy wins the MVP someday if he doesn't get hurt. I think, I think we could just write that down. It happens. And if anything, that's, I think that threw Toronto off more than just them not making shots and them being out of their rhythm. I think they just were like, Jesus, this Giannis guy, what do we do? And once they adjusted to that, they kind of found their rhythm again. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see what they do this summer, the Bucs. You wrote an exit interview about them for The Ringer today. I think to me, that would be such a fun Chris Paul destination. He'd never do it, but that's the type of today. I think, like, to me, that would be such a fun Chris Paul destination.

He'd never do it, but that's the type of guy. I think they need that older guy who's been through a couple boxing matches in Vegas on pay-per-views and has just kind of been banged around and knows the ropes, and that's what they need. Lowry is a free agent. Could you see, need. Lowry is a free agent that could you see like Lowry? I'm not saying it'll happen, but like Lowry on the books like that. Couldn't somebody like that would make a difference. Am I right?

Yeah. Or even like a George Hill type, someone like that. If he wanted to leave Utah, I don't know. Who knows what Utah would want to pay him. I think, you know, there's reports a couple months ago that he's looking for that $20-plus million. Milwaukee would need to clear a little bit of cap space to make room for that, and they would need to let go of Greg Monroe and Tony Snell. They would need to lose guys in order to add that point guard, but that's one of the things that they need, I think, more than anything else.

Brogdon, I love Brogdon. I think he's going to be a really good player for a long time as long as he stays healthy. They already have a lot of money committed to Dele, but they still need that actual shot creator in the half court. There's some options, but at the same time, though, I wonder if they'd be better off building Young through the draft.

Little Derrick Rose? Little D. Rose? I don't know if I'd want Derrick Rose. Little D. Roseose? I don't know if I'd want their... A little D-Rose? A little ISO? Hold on. Gotta get some floor spacing in there. That'll help him? Casey, we have to take a quick break to talk about ZipRecruiter,

but I'm going to ask you for three predictions for round two. So you have one minute to think about those predictions. First, are you hiring? Do you know where to post your job to find the best candidates? Well, posting your job in one place isn't enough anymore for the perfect hire. You need to post your job on all the top job sites, and now you can. ZipRecruiter.com. Post your job to 100-plus job sites, including social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, all with a single click.

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Three predictions for round two. Prediction number one is? Rockets in five. I think they fixed their shooting. They're serious. They have a bunch of 40% plus games from three, and they beat the Spurs in five. I don't think the Spurs have enough quality big men

that can defend their pick and roll, and I think it's going to open up a lot for Houston. All right, so my first prediction is that Shea Serrano fights you and wins because I wouldn't want to fight Shea Serrano. So Shea Serrano over Kevin O'Connor in five minutes. All right, prediction number two from Kevin O'Connor is? Cavaliers fixed their defense and we look back

and we think how silly we were to question why that we were even wondering if the Toronto Raptors could beat them in the first place. Wow, that's a hot take. You're asking Kyle Korver, Darren Williams, Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, Kevin Love.

Okay. I'm not saying it'll work against Gold State, but it might work against Toronto's half-court offense. Yeah, I could see that. All right. Prediction number three from Kevin O'Connor is? This one's not hot at all, but Warriors sweep, and I'm not sure it'll even be close. I just think that they have special potential,

and I don't know if Utah can beat them in the half court. Special potential, except you poo-pooed them going 16-0. You poo-pooed it. The potential's there. The potential's there. 16-1 is pretty damn special, Bill. 16-1 would be pretty good. The Lakers were 15-1, so 16-1 would be the new record.

All right, give me a hot take prediction. Give one hot take. One hot take. Hot take. Let's see. How about, like, you know, with one of the series that are still happening right now?

So, because I feel like the ones that we already know, there's not a lot of hot takes there. Yeah. If the Clippers somehow beat the Jazz, I have a feeling that that next round series could really be just disastrous for them. I think in the sense that, you know, I said Utah could get swept, but I'm not sure that there'd be a whole lot of blowouts.

I could see Clippers just getting, you just getting wiped off the face of the earth in the series against the Warriors, and that would really change. I mean, look, I know a lot. You've written about the future for the Clippers. Others have as well. I feel like maybe even that would change the conversation a little bit more because before the season, we forget Doc Rivers said, I don't think we're that far separated from the Golden State Warriors,

and I think perhaps the series between those two could actually show how significant the difference actually is. I have one thing to add to that, and then I'm going to say goodbye to you. It's going to be a disaster from a crowd standpoint. You know, they played Utah in round one. Let's just say Utah Jazz fans don't really travel that well. Not a ton of Jazz fans outside the Utah area. So for the most part, it was either Clipper fans or people that were just there to watch a playoff game. Round two is going to be half Warriors fans. I think that will be, if they're down 2-0

and you go back to the Clippers for game three, it'll be 8,000 Warriors fans there. And if they win that one and it's game four, now you're talking two-thirds Warriors fans. No Clipper fan will even want to go after game three because there's going to be so many Warriors fans that'll be just sad and depressing. And you're right. They're actually probably better off losing this Jazz Series than, that's a good hot take.

It was a hot take, but I enjoyed it. Kevin O'Connor, read your Bucks piece on theringer.com right now and then on Monday you're going to have some sort of big picture thing I won't spoil it but great job during the playoffs and oh wait you went to a Celtic game with my dad

yes I did that was fun my dad took you to game two and Juliet asked you who knew more about the NBA me me or my dad, and you refused to answer. I didn't refuse. I said Dr. Bill probably because he has more years on you. Yeah, so I told that to Dr. Bill, and he's like, Kevin knows.

I know more about basketball than you. He can tell from the game. So, yeah, that was pretty funny. Anyway, Kevin O'Connor, we will talk to you soon. Keep writing great playoff stuff. And thanks. Thanks for having me, Bill. All right.

All right, we're going to call Mike Lombardi to talk about the NFL draft. But first, how about these words? Convenient, easy, reliable, flexible. Those are my favorite words to describe our old friend, Stamps.com. Why wouldn't you avoid the post office? Why wouldn't you buy and print official US postage with your own computer and printer? Why wouldn't you hand your packages to your own mailman right outside your own house or apartment? Sign up with stamps.com. You can automatically calculate and print the correct amount of postage for every letter or package you send. It's the US Postal

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All right, you watched him on the Ringer's Twitter feed last night as he was doing videos with Kevin Clark. You heard him last night on the Rer NFL show with maze and Kevin Clark. You read him this week as you wrote about the NFL draft. You know what? I still feel like Mike Lombardi belongs to the BS podcast first and foremost. So I had to, I had to take him. There's been a lot of Lombardi in the ringer.

I don't care. I was with you when the bears traded up for Mitch Trubisky. And it's a moment I'm going to treasure for the rest of my life. As Clark laughed, as you screamed no, no, no, as we imagined what Robert Mays' reaction was going to be, all of it was just wonderful and fantastic. And as the dust has settled on one of the dumbest things we've seen in recent NFL draft history, where do you stand?

You know, and today I've spent most of the day trying to talk to teams to see if there was actually a competitor for the 49ers to get that pick. You know, was Cleveland trying to get up the two? Was the Buffalo Bills trying to get up the two? Were the Jets trying to get up the two? And everything that I can tell is the 49ers became Mike McDermott and they KG beat them I mean they just won the deal you know they won the deal

John Lynch he just played it perfectly I mean they convinced people that they tried to I kept throwing out there like this is ridiculous don't buy that the 49ers will take Trubisky that to me was a bad smokescreen but obviously the Bears had their heart set on it. And if you're a Bear fan, look, okay, the problem you have is the NFL is a mathematical issue.

There's only so many reps you can give players at practice. So you've got Mike Lennon, who needs all the reps. Yeah. And you just drafted Mitchell Trubisky, who needs all the reps plus 10 more. Okay? How does this work? How do you have practice? And then you've signed Glennon to this contract.

He's going to throw some bad interceptions, and everybody at Soldier Field is going to say, put in Trubisky. It's just like the dynamic doesn't work here for me. Here's the counter I would have. Trubisky is used to not playing. Exactly. This is a great situation for him. I mean the counter I would have. Trubisky is used to not playing. Exactly. This is a great situation for him. I mean, he went to college. He only had 13 starts. I think this is

good. He knows what to do. He knows how to wear a headset. He loves the clipboard. Yeah, he'll have that clipboard down cold. He'll be good. He knows how to fist pump after a touchdown. I think he has a lot of experience. I don't know. They have cornered the market on North Carolina quarterbacks.

They've got an NC State kid. Now they have a North Carolina kid. I guess if Elon has a good quarterback coming out next year, they'll try to get him. So the Bears – here's why I don't feel bad for their fans. The Cubs won the World Series. If you're a Cubs fan, there's a 99% chance you're also a Bears fan. And all of you said, I just want to see the Cubs win one World Series

of my lifetime. Everything else is gravy. So settle down. You'll be fine. Mays is acting like the world's ended. He just had a Cubs World Series. I didn't even give him the dignity of calling him for today's podcast. He has

a World Series. You're fine. Mitch Trubisky might be good in three years. It's all good. You're fine. One of the things that I was kind of surprised by, and we talked about it a little before I left you yesterday, the Jags go all in on Fournette at number four,

but they haven't done anything about their quarterback. And I feel like I've been here a million times in this situation where you have the prize running back goes to a team and teams just throw seven, eight, nine-man fronts in front of them and they rush for three yards of carry. And eventually everybody wonders, oh, yeah, we probably also should have gotten a quarterback to take some of the pressure.

Why is this situation any different than the situation Todd Gurley's been in with the Rams for the last couple years? It's not unless they decide maybe they'll draft Nathaniel Peterman in the top of the second here, and they'll get a young quarterback along the lines of, say, really he's a lot like Kirk Cousins. I think he could come in and play, maybe not right away, but the Bortles experiment to me is, I know Tom from talking to people within the league and around the Jacksonville Jaguars, I mean,

Tom has watched enough tape on Blake Bortles to realize what he's dealing with. I think at that point they just felt they took the highest player, and they're going to give themselves a chance to try to find another quarterback somewhere along the line. And as we saw last night, I think this was fairly obvious, if you don't have a quarterback, get ready to pay a lot for what it's going to take to get one. And that's why I think Jimmy Garoppolo, when you look over the league

and people say, well, why wouldn't he trade Garoppolo? Look at the value that Garoppolo has when you look at the over the league and people say, well, why would he trade Garoppolo? Look at the value that Garoppolo has when you're trading next year's one for Deshaun Watson, who's an unproven, you're trading all that for Mitchell Trubisky to move up one spot, and then you're trading all that to go get Patrick Mahomes, and that doesn't even count the wins and golf deals from last year. So I'm with you, Bill. I think that Jacksonville needs to obviously get a better quarterback. I'm not a Blake Bortles fan,

but I don't think they felt like they could pass up the blue chip back. They still have work to do. I think they realize it. What would you have done with that spot? Would you have taken the back and figured out quarterback later? I think I would have taken the quarterback. I just think, to me, the quarterback is so important and culturally so important to your team.

I think that's why Watson helps the Texans because the Texans had no toughness on offense. Look, Blake Bortles, Brock Osweiler, for all his bad plays and balls that go and down, he had no love from his team. He couldn't rally anybody. That was the problem. I think

that Watson will come in there and he will rally the troops. He may not be as good as they need him to be, but they all think he's as good as they need him to be. And that says a long way. And I think that's what Jacksonville needs, too. They need a leader and a commander and a quarterback. It's not Bortles. And I think when you can get a chance to get a guy

who can change your culture like Watson can, I think you better take him. And then you've got to work with him in terms of figuring out what he can and can't do. But I would have gone quarterback if I was Jacksonville,, I think you better take him. And then you've got to work with him in terms of figuring out what he can and can't do. But I would have gone quarterback if I was Jacksonville because I think that's going to be the pressing need, and you'll be chasing your tail all the time. Was there another team that would have taken Fournette at four?

That's the other thing is who are they competing against? Because just look at the next picks, right? Tennessee five, Jet six, Chargers seven, Panthers 8. I think the Jets were talking about Fournette at 6. I think the Jets would have had that conversation. They like Adams. I think the Jets, one thing about the Jets, they had so many needs, they could have gone anywhere. I mean, they could have gone anywhere. But I'm with you. I think that, and Kevin Clark talked about this last night, there are other backs that perhaps you can get. I like Fournette. I think he's a blue-chip type player, but I wouldn't have gone all in on him.

I would have gone all in on the quarterback. And I think you can see the team that really deserves a prize, and I don't think they did this intentionally, I don't know, is the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals were very open about their love of quarterbacks, whether it was Mahomes, whether it was Watson. They told everybody they're going to draft a quarterback, and what they did is they got all the quarterbacks drafted before they picked. So you think they might have McDeed it too? They might have because, look, they got Hassan Riddick.

Look, three receivers go in the top 10 and three quarterbacks go in the top 12. That's six players that if you're the Arizona Cardinals, you didn't anticipate coming off the board. The Corey Davis pick has kind of not been talked much about because we're so busy talking and trying to talk Robert Mays out of. The Corey Davis pick is beyond bizarre. I mean, here's a guy coming off an ankle. He's a medical on a lot of teams' board,

and he wasn't even unilaterally the first receiver on anybody's board. But he goes to pick overall in the draft. But you said it was hard for teams to go backwards, and what do you do at that point? If he's your favorite, if you like him the most, but you know he shouldn't go five, what do you do? Then you've got to pick the best player at five, no matter what

the position is. Yeah, that's how I feel, too. By the way, Mike, that's what I do in fantasy drafts. Just pick the best player. I mean, whoever, O.J. Howard would help their team. Anybody would help the Titans. Take your depth chart and throw it out the door. Don't put it in the room.

That's where we all make mistakes. I've made them in my career. You bring the depth chart in the room, that's the first sign you're going to lose. Now, I mean, like, I wish Sam Henke

would have brought his depth chart in his draft room. Right. But that's basketball. NBA is different, though. Football is different. NBA, you have five guys and redundancy doesn't make a lot of sense.

And, you know, you look at what Philly did, and it's a small guys league, and they have all these big guys. That's illogical. Football, when you have to have 22 guys, and what did we figure out that one year when we tried to figure this out? You need, like, what, seven blue chippers to really contend? Around seven? Yeah, exactly.

And they could have taken a defensive lineman. I mean, I don't know where they had Jonathan Allen on their board medically, but he would have helped. I mean, anybody could have helped the Titans. Yeah. I mean, they're not that stacked. And I just think the receiver, you're fitting the receiver in at the fifth pick in the draft.

You're just giving away value. And I think he would have been there at 18 when they picked. Now, I like Adoree Jackson at that pick, but I think he would have been there at 18 when they picked. Now, I like Adoree Jackson at that pick, but I think he would have been there if you wanted him. Well, what's funny is Adoree Jackson fell to them at 18, but really they could have just taken O.J. Howard at 18 and just gone defense with five. Would you rather have Adoree Jackson or, I'm blanking on the Ohio State quarterback,

Marshawn Lattimore? Lattimore. They could have had Latt State quarterback. Marshawn Lattimore. Lattimore. Lattimore. They could have had Lattimore. You could have taken Lattimore. No question. All right, so let's do it, though. So I'm giving you door A, you get Davis or the USC cornerback.

And door B, you get Lattimore at five and O.J. Howard at 18. What would you rather have? I'd take door B. I think I would, too. I would take, I mean, because look, O.J. Howard at 18, what would you rather have? I'd take Dorby. I think I would, too. I would take, I mean, because look, O.J. Howard makes your receivers better. That's what drove me crazy about the Ingram pick with the Giants. The Giants fans are all on my ass about, you just don't like the Giants. That's not true.

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, you just don't like the Giants. Yeah, you're not allowed to not like the pick. I mean, the reality here is the Giants play in 11 personnel the whole game. They just drafted another receiver. Ingram, you can call Ingram a tight end. You can call him whatever you want. He's a receiver.

He's 230 pounds. He doesn't block anybody. So you can't get him on the field with all these receivers. Whereas if you drafted O.J. Howard for the Titans, you make your receivers better. You have to defend. And then with their running game, with DeMarco Murray and the things they can do, I think he was a better pick at five. I would have taken him at five.

I was in Weinberger's office because we were – actually, he was in my office because we were watching the basketball and the hockey and the draft at the same time. Huge Giants fan. Weinberger is the president of BSMG. And O.J. howard about seven picks away from the giants all the giants fans started getting ideas right it was like oh this this is a miracle could he fall could this happen and then he goes and then as you said they take that then

they take a 230 pound tight end i'm delighted because you don't hate the Giants. I don't think you hate anybody. I do hate the Giants. I admittedly hate the Giants. I always root for bad things. I even did a tweet. I tried to reverse jinx them getting OJ Howard. I even did a tweet about oh my god, the Giants are going to get OJ Howard and I was very happy

how that turned out. Yeah, thank you. The funny thing about it is most fans think okay, we didn't get Howard, but we got Ingram. Ingram and Howard don't play the same position. Okay? They don't play anything remotely like the same position. So where the fans think, well, we got a tight end. No, you didn't.

Howard was legitimate on the wide. If they would have drafted Howard, he makes their offense better because McAdoo and the Cheesecake menu would have been an 11 personnel the whole time, and Howard would have been on the the Cheesecake Menu would have been in 11 personnel the whole time, and Howard would have been on the field, and they would have been really good. But now he's got to do all the mixing and matching, and he's got to substitute. I think if I would have traded up, to me, Howard was a steal for Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay got a great player at that pick. That was awesome. I mean, I'm a little scared that we have a pairing of OJ and Jameis just in general, just seeing those words together scare me. But the OJ Howard, Jameis, the receivers they have, it felt like he went like five picks too late. one that was the right spot that I liked the most that I hadn't really thought about until it happened. I was like, Oh, that's a good one. It was Mike Williams going seven to the chargers. It might've been like two, three picks early, but the way rivers throws rivers, does rivers at any QB throw more balls into traffic than any QB we have. And here's Mike Williams, who's going to be the best guy we've had in a while catching the ball in traffic it's kind of like they're the perfect marriage yeah no it is I mean the thing that's interesting about to me what the Chargers were doing was last year the Chargers you know

when they lost all their when they lost their receivers and the next thing you know they're playing with guys you don't you can't even say the name those guys actually you know Inman was playing really well Terrell Williams was playing really well. They were big, and Rivers actually made them look better. Now you add Mike Williams to Keenan Allen and Travis Benjamin, along with Inman and Williams. They have a really good, strong receiving core.

If their offensive line can hold up, and that's a big if, you know, Okung's got to be able to block at left tackle. But there's another team I thought might have gone quarterback. You know, there's another team I thought might have gone quarterback. There's another team that I think they went receiver and they could have gone defensive back. They could have easily taken...

If they take Latimer, I know Casey Hayward played well for him and Adolph Verrett, but they could have taken another corner and would have helped their team or a front seven guy. It gets tough when you talk about QBs in their mid-30s and trying to guess how much can you stretch out of them? Some of them just go off a cliff. Some of them might be too banged up rivers to me.

The red flag was how badly he played the last two months of the season. And it's either he played badly because he didn't have skill positions and the team was about to move and he's got eight kids and he's trying to figure out where he's going to lay and he's distracted. It's explainable, but he was awful. I mean, he was genuinely really, really bad those last two months. And that's why I thought they might take him. Because I thought in the early part of the season,

when they were coming from behind, they beat Atlantic. I was thinking, you know, this guy could easily be an MVP candidate because he was playing really well. And then I thought that, and I jinxed the poor guy. So I take full responsibility for Phillip Rivers having the shit in the tank. Because he really was playing well early, but I think what happened to him is like what happens to a lot of quarterbacks. They get hit too often, and all of a sudden, you know,

they're like boxers who are looking at punches that aren't coming, and they can't see the things down the field. And he made some horrible interceptions with some games that really he gave some games away based on his play. Yeah. I like the pick though, because I think, you know, they need to be good next year. They're moving to a new city that, trust me,

nobody cares about the Chargers here. Not one person. They're playing in Carson. Joe Fuentes is here, long time extended LA guy. Joe Fuentes, will you go to one Chargers game? Jim Cunningham, will you go to one Chargers game? Oh, Jim Cunningham will go, but he'll go to anything. He goes to wrestling events.

I walked the beach. I told you yesterday, I walk the beach every day. I've yet to see a Rams hat, a Rams jersey, or a Chargers hat. I don't see them. I see Patriots. I've yet to see a Rams hat, a Rams jersey, or a Chargers hat. I don't see them. I see Patriots. I see Lakers. I see Dodgers.

But I don't see any of the LA football teams of any people walking by. Maybe I'm walking in the wrong area. No, you're not. It's Lakers and Dodgers. It's USC and UCLA. I see some Raiders gear. I see Raiders gear. It's UCLA, USC. I see some Raiders gear. I see Raiders gear. It's UCLA, USC.

Some leftover Raiders. And then if the Clippers are doing really well or the Kings, there's some bandwagon stuff. But yeah, you won't see a lot of Rams and Chargers. Hey, Christian McCaffrey on the Panthers. Yes. Do they play him

at running back? Why wouldn't they also do him, like do a little Julian Edelman with him? I think they will. I think they'll do a little bit of everything with him. I think that'll confuse people, and I think they're going to be in so much spread because that's what they want to be. Really, that's where Cam is at his best is when they're in spread. He gives them some versatility in terms of being able to play multiple positions in the same position

without having a substitute. Again, that's the key to being really good on offensive football, is being able to change positions of your players without having a substitute. You know what I loved about that? So you know how much I love when teams do things that make the other team during the week have to prepare for a whole bunch of scenarios? It's one of my favorite little NFL things. You're planning for Cam and McCaffrey.

It's a pain in the ass. I mean, how many things do you have to prepare for during the week? How many different formations and weird shit can they pull? That would be incredibly frustrating, right? Right, and I think that, look, let's face it here. The Panthers offensively, they've got a power forward at Funches. They've got the center in Benjamin.

They've got another center in Olsen. And now they have the point guard in McCafferty. They've got a tough team to match up for. You've got to have a diverse defensive backfield to match up with these guys. And they're going to create some problems. And if they just put Benjamin, Funches, and McCafferty on the field with Olsen, along with Jonathan Stort in the backfield or Artis Payne or whomever they want to put back there,

they're a little bit of a problem because you're not going to be able to match. They'll run it. They can throw it. I mean, they can extend Stort out and put McCafferty in the backfield, or they can extend McCafferty in the slot and put Stort in the backfield. There's a lot without ever having a substitute. And that's the key to being really good on offense, is to be able to be in multiple positions without having a substitute. And that's why I didn't like the Ingram pick, because he comes on the field, everybody knows what he's in the game for. You can't run everything through him. And that's why I like

McCafferty, because he can do a lot of different things and never leave the field. I did not like the Cincinnati Bengals taking receiver at number nine. I would not have done that. As a Patriot fan, I was excited they did that because I'm always scared of the other AFC teams. The pick, the move that I didn't like as a Pats fan, as somebody who wants a Pats fan, as somebody who's, you know, who wants a six Superbowl, who wants a, wants an eighth trip to the show,

eighth or ninth, eighth. I can't even keep track. That's how great it is to be a Patriots fan. I have no, I can't even remember. Joe, I can't even remember how many Superbowls we've been in. Seven, eight. Who knows? It's been so many. I can't keep track. I didn't like that the Texans got Watson. I think he has a chance to be special. I don't know if he will be, but as you documented extensively on The Ringer and in your podcast with Tate, GM Street, all the intangibles are there.

He has found a knack for every time somebody says, oh, he's not ready to start yet, he's starting, even going back to the ninth grade. He's been in huge games. He dominated an Alabama defense that probably is going to have, what, six guys in the top two rounds? Yeah. And as you said, culture changer, huge balls,

somebody that is going to give them a confidence that they had the opposite of last year and that's a team with a ton of talent that was the best defense the Patriots played in the playoffs last year and they didn't have J.J. Watt he's coming back Osweiler to Watson is a huge upgrade not to mention some of their other draft picks

they did lose A.J. Bui but I don't know it scared me little. I didn't like that. I think Houston's got the kind of right, I think that was the move to make, and they did. You know, it's funny, Cleveland, this is two years in a row, Cleveland has looked at these quarterbacks and said they don't like any of them. I mean, here they are, they have all these draft picks, and they just, you know, they trade away from Wentz last year, and then they traded away from Watson this year,

and they're going to have to live with the consequences of it. It's the same hanky move. Houston's going to be good with Watson, huh? It's the same hanky move of just stockpiling the picks, and that becomes your hope, instead of just doubling down on somebody who might provide the hope. I think Cleveland was crazy not to take Watson. Football drafts are crapshoot. You never know a lot of these times, but in this case, when you have this franchise

that has had so many lousy quarterbacks and so much pain and so much despair, and they're going to go to another season without a quarterback, Like, you know, unless they just scouted him and were just convinced that this guy couldn't make it, it's hard for me to believe that at pick 12, especially when it had value. If Houston's willing to trade up and give them all these picks, then maybe that should make you reevaluate the player, right? All right, maybe they don't even like Watson. Maybe it's Mahomes.

I mean, you're sitting there. Andy Reid's pretty good on quarterbacks, right? So now he comes in front of you and takes Mahomes. I'm not even suggesting they take Watson because I like Watson. What about Mahomes? What are they not seeing in quarterbacks that guys that know something about quarterbacks are seeing? That's the question. You know, they said last year that they didn't see it in Wentz.

They didn't see it in Goff. Okay, fine. I don't see it in Goff either. And Wentz, I think that, you know, there's some't see it in Wentz. They didn't see it in Goff. Okay, fine. I don't see it in Goff either. And Wentz, I think that there's some things to like about Wentz. But at some point, you know, Bill Walsh often said the search for the perfect player never ends. And I think that's what the Cleveland Browns are trying to do. They're the perfect quarterback. They're not going to find one.

You've got to find one and go all in with them and work with them, assuming that he has the character and the intangibles, that he can match it. And that's where it becomes you just wonder, when are they going to ever get their guy? Maybe they're trying to get the first pick next year in the draft and get the USC quarterback or the UCLA quarterback. I don't know. Yeah. I didn't think it was a very good idea to pass on him.

Kansas City shocked me. When they traded up, Eric started hollering. He's like, they're going in on a quarterback. They know. They can't win with Alex. They know. And I was trying to, I was like, well, they did. And then I'm thinking like, yeah,

I've never felt like Alex Smith was going to beat the Patriots in a playoff game. So I think Andy Reid finally got to that place mentally. Can Mahomes play for them next year? No, I think it's the perfect situation for Mahomes. He comes in, he gets tutored, he gets in the situation, and he's basically the backup. He'll learn the offense, and he'll do the Aaron Rodgers routine. He'll learn how to play the game.

They'll go with Alex Smith as far as they can, and if he gets hurt, they've got a guy they go to, and then eventually they'll develop him. And then what makes Andy so successful with quarterbacks, and I saw him do it with McNabb, and I've seen him do it, he couldn't do it with Kevin Cobb, but for the most part, he can do it. He did it with Foles. He develops the system around what the quarterback can do. And so what he's done with Alex Smith is he's taken Utah's college offense and combined it with the West Coast. So it's really West Coast College. And now he'll take Mahomes and he'll

develop a program around him and utilize his skill set to the best. And now he'll take Mahomes and he'll develop a program around him and utilize his skill set to the best. And this, again, is where you wonder what the Browns are saying to themselves. You know, if you don't like Watson, fine. Do you like Mahomes? Like, you have to like somebody. We just can't pass on every quarterback, or every year we're going to say we don't like a quarterback.

Are we sure Mahomes in a West Coast offense makes sense? Everybody says he's like this gunslinger who takes a ton of chances. It doesn't sound like an Andy Reid quarterback. I don't think it does. I think he's going to have to be, and I think Andy Reid knows he needs to make plays in the passing game. I mean, Alex Smith doesn't throw the ball off the field, and you can't make plays. But he's got Tyree Kill, so he's got this explosive player, right? So somebody could stretch the field with his arm and will throw it up the field. I mean, you

could see kind of what he's trying to do. I think one thing, in terms of clock management, you know, Andy and I don't see eye to eye, but in terms of evaluating quarterbacks, I do. It's a good thing not to see eye to eye with Andy Reid on clock management. Yeah, I mean, I'm never going to admit that, but I

will admit that offensively, when he's developing an offense around a quarterback, he understands how to get the most out of the quarterback. And he understands that the guy doesn't have to be perfect. That's the thing. That's what drives me maddening about Cleveland is there's nobody who's going to be perfect. You've got to take the guy that you feel like you can develop and grow with. All right, Mike, I'm going to ask you this question.

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You're good to go. All right, Mike. Who's a contender that wasn't six weeks ago? I think the Bucs. I think the Bucs, you know, look, the Bucs have a really good young team. They've added some explosive players to their offense. I mean, look, Cameron Britt played well at tight end

for them when he came in there. And now they get O.J. Howard in there to go along with the Sean Jackson, Mike Evans. And, you know, Jameis Winston is one of those guys that you wonder about. You know, he makes some mistakes, he throws the ball, makes some interesting decisions, but he always wins.

He finds a way to get his team back, and the team has a culture about him, and the team believes that they can win. I think the Bucs really have made themselves better with their offseason. I think their defense is solid. I think that they're a team that you have to contend with. Is there one more thing they need in round two or round three that they don't have right now? I think the more that they can add to their, you know, look,

they're going to need to get their offensive line situated. I mean, they could use a right tackle, but there are a lot of teams that need their offensive line better. I mean, let's be honest. And I think defensively, the more defensive linemen they can get, but they get Chris Baker in free agency who was a good player. You know, to go along with McCoy, they've got some issues. They've got some really good players on their team.

Then they're young. And I think that they've got some issues. They've got some really good players on their team. Then they're young. And I think that they've got a chance to be much better this year. And I think if they just keep adding really – forget the depth chart. Just keep adding talent to their team, they could be really good. The Bucs, 35-1 to win the Super Bowl right now. I mean, look, Winston's a winner. I mean, let's face it. Winston finds ways to win games.

You can't knock him down. He makes mistakes. He comes back. And there's something about that team that they believe win games. You can't knock him down. He makes mistakes. He comes back. And there's something about that team that they believe in him. And this is what I preach all the time. There's a culture that people believe in quarterbacks, and they'll get them to go even when he makes mistakes. And that's what Houston's going to have now with Watson.

That team's going to buy into him. Texans, 15-1 to win the Super Bowl. They're going to buy into him. I'm going to read you teams that have better odds than the Bucs. You can grunt if you're disgusted by it. Broncos, 18-1. Steelers, 18-1. Giants, 22-1.

Chiefs, 25-1. Colts, 30-1. Can I hear a grunt? Yeah, the Colts. I think the Colts are in a rebuilding phase. Yeah, that's ridiculous. I don't see that. I mean, that's all about Andrew Luck,

who's coming off a bad shoulder, who throws more balls looking up at the dome than the poor guy does on his feet. I mean, you know, that's really, you worry about that. Vikes are 30-1. Cardinals, 32-1. The Bucs and Panthers, 35-1.

The other thing the Bucs have going for them, I think the Falcons are going to be like Ronda Rousey after that first fight when she got knocked out. They're going to be a shell of them. How do you bounce back from that Super Bowl? I don't know if you do. Plus, they're going to be all new on offense. I think you don't minimize how effective Kyle Shanahan was for what they did.

The two teams I was going to talk about ended up being the both 35-1. I think the Panthers are going to bounce back from their year. Me too. They had kind of the year from hell, right? Just like from day one, everything went wrong. Yeah, I think they're going to bounce back, and I think they're going to be a tough matchup for most teams offensively. And I think Cam Newton will bounce back and play better.

You know, look, I don't have any faith. Look, the Giants still can't block anybody. So they have Bobby Hart at right tackle. They've got Eric Flowers, Highway 74 over there. Everybody's running. You know, they have all these skilled players, but unless they're going to get the defense to count to five Mississippi, they're going to have a hard time throwing the ball.

And so you've got to count. I mean, them, you know, there's some of those teams, Kansas City. I think, you know, we talked about Alex Smith. I don't see it. I think there's some teams that are young and emerging. And then, of course, when you look at, like, when you look at Indianapolis, I think they're really more in a rebuilding phase than they are really thinking they're going to compete. What about Cincinnati?

No way on Cincinnati. The Raiders, you know, you could argue if Carr doesn't get hurt, who knows. Do you think that they did enough to at least hang around as a contender to the Pats? I think the Raiders, with their offense and their ability, I think they're going to need more defensive help, and they better hope they're right with the Conley pick. They better hope they're right with that. And if they are, they've got a really good player,

and they've got a good corner that they need. The Raiders need more defense. I mean, they need to come back and pick some more defensive players, there's no doubt. They got to fix their defense. But look, the Raiders can score points and the Raiders are explosive. Alright, last thing. Speaking of the Raiders, we were talking about what Al Davis ate.

You worked with Al Davis for a while. Can you go over Al Davis' eating schedule? Because it was the same thing every day. So what was it? Well, we'd wake up in the morning, we'll have a little fruit, you know, and a Diet Pepsi. And then somewhere around 1, 1.30, it's going to be a McDonald's cheeseburger with 11 French fries and 11. Now, not 11, 11.

The fries were counted out. 11 french fries and a Diet Pepsi, maybe some coleslaw. Sometimes the change might happen. It might have had Kentucky Fried Chicken with 11 french fries and a Diet Pepsi. 3 o'clock, 3.30, George Run Run Jones would come storming in the room with a German chocolate cake and a Diet Pepsi. And then at night, almost all the time, it was shrimp cocktail with a side of mayonnaise to dip the shrimp cocktail in.

Caesar salad with extra mayonnaise on the side. And then English cut prime rib with 11 French fries. And then to top it off for the evening, German chocolate cake and a Diet Pepsi. All right. I mean, look, he lived, I mean, it wasn't his diet that ended up being the cause of his death. Yeah. I mean, he was 180 years old.

That was probably the cause. Wait. The great eating habits of all, I've never seen anything like it. You left out, it was the, it was the end of the prime rib, right? It was like the worst cut of it. Yeah. Yeah. English cut prime rib.

Yeah. I'll have the English cut. Yeah. So it was like. Yeah. And if the girl brought, cut prime rib. Yeah, I'll have the English cut. So it was like... Yeah, and if the girl brought, like I told you last night, the girl brought 15 fries. Oh, Mr. Davis here, I brought you a bunch of fries. Those fries were going back to the kitchen and 11 were coming back out.

And the thing that was the most stunning to me of all of this was that you never asked him why 11. Never. It was just the elephant in the room and you never asked him. How do you ask him like, hey, Al, I got to ask. We've been together for this long. Like, why 11? What's so special about it?

You never asked him. I never asked. It never dawned on me. You know, because I've been hung up too many times. Like, people on Twitter call me an idiot. Like, I've been called an idiot by Al Davis. I think that goes a longer way than anything on Twitter, right? Yeah.

And so, like, if I asked him a question, he would always say to me, I didn't call you for that, and he would hang up the phone. Right. So I never played any home games. I was always on the road. I was always on the road. I was always having to answer questions. I never got to ask questions.

So 11 Fries, were they like skinny fries or were they fat fries? Well, when he was at the Marriott, at the Napa Valley Marriott, they might have been a little thicker, but typically you always wanted to be McDonald's. So long and skinny fries and 11. Ketchup? Did he dip them in ketchup? I don't remember

if the ketchup was there. I know mayonnaise was the number one thing. I love mayonnaise. Shrimp cocktail and mayonnaise is one of the five most disgusting things I've ever heard in my life. Loved it. Love mayonnaise. Shrimp cocktail and mayonnaise is one of the five most disgusting things I've ever heard in my life. Loved it. Last question. Two slices of German chocolate cake during the day? Not one? Every day.

It was from Safeway Bakery. It didn't have to be the great German chocolate cake. It wasn't like they had it. It was just anywhere. And Run Run would bring it in. Run Run was the old roller derby guy. I love Run Run to death. His son actually works at the Raiders now. He would bring it in. Run Run was the old roller derby guy. I love Run Run to death. His son actually works at the Raiders now. And he would bring it in on his tray, and there it was. He might not eat the whole piece, but he would have it.

And how many sodas do we think there are? How many diet sodas during the day do we think? I would say four to five. Wow. I mean, this is incredible information. Thank you. It's a lot to digest. Everybody needs to know. Joe Fuentes is just nodding and he's confused. He doesn't know what to think. All right. Mike Lombardi, if you play your cards right. That's going to be the title of one of my books will be 11 Fries. 11 Fries. Maybe we could change the name of your podcast with Tate from GM Street to 11 Fries.

I get McDonald's to sponsor it. All right. So your podcast, GM Street with Tate Frazier. Yes. Almost always the producer of this podcast. That is on the Ringer NFL show. And if you play your cards right, you might get invited on Cousin Sal's new podcast, Against All Odds. I'd send your resume now.

I'm excited. There's a lot of characters. You might not be Italian enough. I'm disappointed. I hope Mush, I hope the theme from Bronx Tale opens up the thing, and then Mush is like the face on the podcast. That's a good idea. I like that one.

All right. I will talk to you before the lottery, because we're going to make you do some basketball. Just so you know, every day I go to the lottery thing, and I've yet to see the 76ers get the first pick at two of the top five. I've yet to do it. I don't know if the ESPN machine knows that I'm doing it, so they won't give the Sixers those picks. Screwing you over.

But I have yet to see it done. All right. Mike Lombardi, as always, thanks for everything this week. Talk to you soon. Bye-bye. All right. Thanks to Lombardi. Thanks to Kevin O'Connor.

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Use promo code BS after you sign up and you get a four-week trial, postage, a digital scale, and no long-term commitments. Click on the microphone at the top of Stamps.com's homepage and type in BS. Don't forget about Cousin Sal's new podcast, Against All Odds. We make a joke. If you go there right now and you subscribe to it, you can hear the little promo video we did. Or promo audio, I guess we did. Promo clip. And we talk about how it is the same name as a really mediocre movie from 1984 that happened to have a spectacular Phil Collins song. We're negotiating with Phil Collins.

And we're also negotiating with the Mighty Mighty Bostones, trying to get them to give us a song for that. So, yeah. Next week, Against All Odds with Cousin Sal. Sign up right now. How can you not? I mean, Cousin Sal, I've had this pod for 10 years. He's been one of the staples. How can you not listen to his podcast Cousin Sal, I've had this pod for 10 years. He's been one of the staples. How can you not listen to his podcast?

Enjoy the weekend. Go Celts. Back on Monday. I don't have. I feel it's within On the wayside I'm a person never I don't have