The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 1: Moisés Kangalou

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

"Couple of Castillos cuttin' it up." It's a Stugotz power hour for Hour 1 as he delivers his Top 5 Names In Sports Who Connote Biting. But don't worry; that's not all. He then fires off his Weekend Observations containing thoughts he had while on a gummy walking to The Sphere for a third straight night at a Dead show, his Top 5 Athletes If They Were Named After Something Australian, a sexist mistake, and a business proposal for Dan involving the Australian baseball league. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a message from sponsor Intuit Turbo Tax. Taxes was waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back and then waiting wondering and worrying some more. Now, Taxes is matching with a Turbo Tax expert who can do your taxes as soon as today. An expert who gives your taxes their undivided attention as they work on your return

while you get real-time updates on their progress so you can focus on your day. An expert who will find you every deduction possible and file every form, every investment, every everything with a hundred percent accuracy. updates on their progress so you can focus on your day. An expert will find you every deduction possible and file every form, every investment, every everything with 100% accuracy. All so you can get the most money back guaranteed. No waiting, no wondering, no worries.

Now this is taxes. Get an expert now on TurboTax.com. Only available with TurboTax Live full service. Real-time updates only in iOS mobile app. See guaranteed details at TurboTax.com slash guarantees. Now's a good time to remember where Tequila's story truly began. In 1795, Cuervo invented Tequila. Cuervo. What are you doing here?

Cuervo. Anytime someone says Cuervo, I show up. Well I do know that to be true, but even during ad reads like... Cuervo. I think he could lay out, especially for one of our great partners Sweet, delicious Quervo Since then, Quervo has stayed true to its roots The same family, the same land, the same passion

Quervo So, enjoy the tequila that started it all Quervo Quervo The tequila that invented tequila Proximo, Quervo.com, please drink responsibly Quervo This is the Don Leventor Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

This episode of the Dan Lebatard Show with Stugatz is presented by Smirnoff. We do game days. Please drink responsibly. The Smirnoff Company. New York, New York. For the first time in too long, we are going to have Stugatz's weekend observations. He's got a lot of thoughts. As soon as a coach is fired in the NBA,

Amin flumes in from wherever it is he is to give us some poignant analysis. Before we get to that, though, both of those things, Stugatz has a top five list of athlete names who can note biting in honor of the very famous Luis Suarez of Inter Miami. Do you have an OLI or do you just have a top five? I have two OLIs, Dan.

All right. And then a top five and it's a beauty. All right, athlete names who can note biting. Reggie Tongue. I don't think, put it on the poll at Lebatard Show. Is the tongue involved in biting? Bite your tongue. At Lebatard Show.

Yes, bite your tongue. Yes, bite your tongue. John Maynard. The Dentist. Of course, West Indies cricketer. Yep. Well known. Thank you, Greg. John Maynard. The Dentist. Of course, West Indies cricketer. Yep. Well known. Thank you, Greg.

Number five. Randy Mohler. Number four. Sin Chu Chu. Number three. Louie Lips. Number two. Vic Fangio.

Bangs. Number one. Vic Fangio. Bangs. Number one. Rick Batino. Yes, of course, a vampire. A well-known vampire. The most well-known vampire anywhere in sports. I mean, before you go do oddball with Izzy, give me all the best stuff that you have on Michael Malone so you can't use it on your own show.

Great strategy. Number one, big F you goes out to the Denver Nuggets organization. This was supposed to be a nice easy day for me. Instead, I have to do three different podcasts just because they can't hold their shit together. What's the best stuff you have? You know you can say no.

Don't you want news? Yeah, you would think that you would get excited by content, but okay. Sometimes slow and dry. Remember guys,, but okay. No, no. Sometimes slow and dry. Remember guys, let them cook. No, this isn't content. This is mania, right?

There's a mania that's infecting our league, and it's this idea that, A, I'm doing my team a favor by firing the coach three or four or however many games before the end of the season. I'm doing my new head coach, the interim head coach, a favor by giving him the reins. Like here, like here, have this hot potato. And by the way, I'm showing respect to, in both the instances in the last couple weeks,

the best coach you've ever had in your blah blah blah life. I was gonna cuss, but I didn't realize I was still alive. Thank you for not. Yeah, no, I do it for you. But it's ridiculous, right? It's ridiculous. You're not putting anyone in a position to be successful when you do this, right?

That's number one. Number two is between Coach Malone and Coach Smith, Coach Mike Brown, excuse me, earlier this year, we've got two instances of guys who are getting fired from what I see as holding guys accountable. men being fired for holding other grown men accountable. He's mean to me Like what do you think this is? What do we think we're trying to do here? We're trying to win games and sometimes asking pretty pretty please is not an option And so it's ridiculous ridiculous that the organization would him like not back their coach in that situation now

Denver has other issues in that there was behind-the-scenes tension between the GM Calvin booth and the head coach Michael Malone But they fired the GM too. So what exactly do we saw your history? Watching the league have you ever seen? history watching the league, have you ever seen this or something that rivals this in terms of puzzling universally received as puzzling because you're knocking out both your leaders with this as the timing? No. I mean, I would say yes, Memphis, but these guys said, hold my beer and they went up them and so it's it's something that um i don't know that i you know i thought memphis was kind of isolated i'm worried now that there's a precedent

now hey if your coach says something that you don't like just let him go doesn't matter what he's accomplished i mean for your town try organization. I'm looking at this as the obvious result of what's happened the last 15 years combined with the generational gulf of holding players accountable, wha, no, we've gotta do it differently because the 20-year-olds have the actual guaranteed money power here.

Dan, having actual guaranteed money power doesn't mean anything, right? Doesn't mean anything unless you give it credence, right? The organization is what gives it credence when, we talked about this before, not with Memphis, who was it? I think it was Sacramento. But the idea that when LeBron James and Dwayne, LeBron James comes to Pat Riley and says,

don't you ever get the itch. Like that's a seminal moment. That's a seminal moment in organizational history where it is demonstrated at the highest level. We don't play that shit here. Yeah, but look at what just happened to him and them. But the difference is, Dan, the difference is, is that you can do that and then set the standard

and set the expectation, or you can listen to the whispers and the murmurs and the rumblings and say, oh yeah, well you know, once you start to entertain, you have already started to erode any sort of authority that the coach might have, and I don't mean authority like I'm your boss, do what I say. I mean authority like, hey man, we have a plan. It's my job to come up with the plan.

It's your job to execute the plan. If you execute the plan and the plan sucks, my bad. I'll take it. But if you don't ever get to executing the plan, then we'll never know. Does this not feel to you in some way as someone who really loves basketball and understands how the

basketball leadership works? Does it not feel to you like you, your way, your thinking of accountability is generationally behind now? That there has been a sea change here that this is a symbol for but the way that you think about these things about how to govern uh... people from a different generation who have a different relationship with work perhaps than michael malone does this represents a sea change that leaves uh... the bill bella check way the pat riley way the michael michael malone way leaves it a little more behind than it

was yesterday. I'll say this, there's been a formula for success in our league for damn near 80 years. And it doesn't include, we don't have to work that hard. If you, all the successful ones, all the champions, all the great ones, they all bust their ass. They all bust their ass on the court, they all bust their ass watching film, they understood the plays, they understood their opponents, they were prepared. That's a constant. Like, you could say, hey, oh, Gen Z, they don't, the constant is the work. You look at the Celtics last year, you look at the Nuggets two years ago, the Warriors,

et cetera, et cetera. The teams at the top, beyond the good luck of health, beyond obviously having talent, it's discipline and it's hard work. Nobody's skating here. And if you think you can skate to a championship and you're firing your coach because he's not letting your guys skate, then you're part of the problem. They have championship expectations there.

We did a cursory look. I think the best, most recent examples, Tylow mid-season coaching change went on to win the NBA championship for a team in the Cavs that had championship aspirations. Have you ever seen anything this late in the season actually work? It's never it's never happened before. First of all we'll start it's never been this late. Taylor Jenkins was already kind of the latest of a good coach right. Now Michael Malone is the latest of any coach even a bad

coach right. So when you talk about Ty-Liu, that's different. That was more like Adrian Griffin, where they could see clearly this isn't working. And we've given this guy another- Blatt didn't have the pedigree. Blatt, he didn't have the pedigree, he didn't understand the language. You talk about Dan, the language of generational gap. David Blatt didn't understand the NBA language.

Like he did not know how to operate and how to interact with people. It seems as though that was the case against Malone though. He wasn't connecting with his guys. No, I'm talking about David Blatt and Kenny Wayne. No, I understand. It's like, it's the difference between I don't speak English at all, and I'm not saying that literally, I don't speak NBA basketball as a language, versus these group of guys are starting to tune out.

And by the way, when you talk about these group of guys, here's the other part of this. The tension between Calvin Booth and Michael Malone was that Michael Malone wanted vets, which is, by the way, how you win championships. And Calvin Booth was like, no, play these young guys who make mistakes and don't watch film and aren't as committed. And that's a hard golf to overcome as an organization. Rod Jaworski. Jaws.

That's a good one. That is a good one. Better than lips. Well, tongue. Tuck your lip. Thank you, Amin. Oddball four days a week. Yep, yep, yep, yep.

DJ Shark. Wow. You were impressed by yourself on that one. That was a good one. You surprised yourself. Better than John Maynard, the dentist. Don LeBretard. Surely every time you're watching this you recognize that your wife is laughing, that she married Larry David. Yeah, I do, yeah. One of the great characters in the history of television, in my humble opinion. And to my credit, my personality... In my humble opinion, followed by to my credit. It's amazing. It's just amazing. To my credit, my personality does predate Curb Your Enthusiasm. Stugots!

Oh, wow. I'm not going to say Larry David patterned himself after me. You copy, all right, put it on the poll please, Jude. You did Greg Cody copyright being an asshole long before Larry David. This is the Dan LeVatar Show with the StuGuts. Time now for StuGuts' weekend observations. It is time for StuGatz to share his game notes. No one in the media will tell you what happened better than my boy Stu.

Weekend observations are brought to you by Miller Lite. Din, in 20 years of doing this show with you, perhaps it's the only thing I've been consistent about the entire time. That this week is the best week on the sports calendar. Magnolia Lane, Rays Creek, Jim Nance, Hogan Bridge, Amen Corner, Butler Cabin, and of course, the Azaleas. Ah, the Azaleas. Ah, the Azaleas. And Dan, just like that, make no mistake about it, Masters Week is back!

Exciting. Yes. Perhaps we'll talk about it. More than just talking about it, VJ Singh's withdrawal. Wanna talk about the poor three today? Oh, I love the poor three.? Oh, I love the poor three. Oh, do I love the poor three, I'll be glued. Speaking of back, hello!

Steven A. Smith on first take, debating, what does Ovechkin's record mean for LeBron's legacy? That's why he gets paid the big bucks. How did he weave those two together? He is a genius that man. He really is. The Mariners have two pitchers in their starting rotation named Luis Castillo.

You know what they say, Dan? If you have two Luis Castillos, you don't have one. The C in Luis Castillo stands for for couple of Castillo's cutting it up. Billy, how do you feel? You correctly pointed out yesterday that I should be saying it Los Angeles instead of Los Angeles. You shouldn't. I'm just saying.

But how do you feel about how he says, no, it's Luis. The way, the way that you make it two syllables, the way that you make it Lou East. I mean, Stugats. His name is Louie Castle All right, I mean seems like a guy you would like I have no idea who he is You don't know who we castillo is the Marlin second baseman. Oh good lord Marlon's Hall of Famer. He's been well not yet. He's been a good pitcher in the league for years. Okay He's been a good pitcher in the league for years. Okay. Listen, I was just trying to make a Castillo joke.

You know what, yeah, two, you don't have one, couple of Castillos, cutting it up. Have you guys seen the thing about the Los Angeles Angels? So they're called the Los Angeles Angels. Yeah, it's redundant. It's the, the Angels Angels. Yeah, it's stupid. Put it on the poll, did you know that the Los Angeles Angels is the the Angels Angels?

The two best days of the NCAA tournament are the day it starts and the day Duke loses. Taylor. They're called the Duke Blue Devils because they were blue in the face from choking away a national title. Taylor, how is the answer to everything around here more David Sampson? I can promise you this, nobody and I mean nobody is asking for more David Sampson. How did we get here? Dan, I left for five weeks. I mean, S Samson dominated the airwaves here. At least still airwaves are doing it. I don't know. How does that work?

Excellent questions. All of them. The Samson one too? All of them. Excellent questions. How did we get here? All of it. Walter Clayton Jr. Senior guard play. To everybody comparing Walter Clayton Jr. to Steph Curry do me a favor stop doing it what are we doing why are we comparing in the study he's not Steph Curry no one is just size and step backs that's all it is whenever I bet on a team nobody can make a free throw it's the worst put it on the pole at Levitard

show juju when you bet on a team, does it stop making its free throws? Dan, do you know what we witnessed on Saturday? Todd Golden versus Bruce Pearl, a couple of Jews coaching it up. Amazing time for Jewish coaches three of the final four that's a trend John Shire, I had no idea things you think about

on a gummy on a walk to the sphere on the way to your third consecutive debting company show is Jimmy Garoppolo good or is he just good looking? That feels like you're thinking about that four years after everybody was thinking about it. It is a question though.

If he didn't look the way he did, would he still be in the league? Yeah, he's still good looking four years later. Is it a question? There have to be some ugly backups out there that were just nothing. Who's the guy with the long neck that was in the league for a while? Glennon. Dan thought he was gonna be great. He did. He had the neck.

Look, what I said was that he was at North Carolina State that he was a first round pick. That's what I said. But you thought he was gonna be good, right? A first round pick is what I said. Houston would win a national championship every season if basketball was played without a basketball. I agree

with that. Thank you. Duke was 79 and 0 under John Shire when leading by more than 10 points. You know what that means, Dan? Something had to give. They were due. Look at that. Look at the ally. I know he loves that. 170 year old thumb. Just take it. Lift it. I will take it. I love that thumb. Hell yeah. He might not show it but Coach K is the to mind, but I'm sure that Coach K didn't want immediate championship winning as soon as he leaves.

You think he says to his wife, he's not me. He's good, but he's not me. He had to say it, right? Coach S. WFAN, debating for hours. Why Coach S? You know, Coach K, Coach S. Yeah. Okay, thank you for the elaboration. That's an all-timer right there. What are you doing?

He you know he's striving to get that nickname. You know when you're called coach k come before s right yeah Yeah, you got it made that's the comment that you made he hasn't earned it yet So you did point if he wins a championship he's coach s yeah, you know clearly I gotta explain that yes Right now he's still John shy he wasn't right the guy that coach K Laughs at right wasn't coach K because his last name merely started with a K He was coach K because it was a lot easier to say than his last name No his last name does start with a K. I understand that but debatable like an s Maybe I should be coach Wow Wow that is true. Great point by Jess. Okay. I had considered.

WFAN, debating for four hours whether or not Juan Soto is a needle mover. Good job boys. That's what sports radio is all about. 20 shares. Roki Suzuki, crying after a bad first start for the Dodgers. good job boys. That's what was a far better player. Are people arguing that Ovechkin's the greatest goal scorer of all time because he has most goals? Wait, you mean the best player of all time? Or the best goal scorer. Because he's neither.

Well, he is the best. Gretzky did it in fewer years, I believe. They did it in the exact same number of games. The exact same number. Excuse me, Gretzky? So now take Gretzky's rings, put them in a box, and take Ovechkin's rings, and put them in a box, and tell me who's better.

Gretzky just has 900 more assists. Ovechkin had two work stoppages in COVID to deal with as well. I want to hear about it. I mean, no one's arguing. You don't want to hear about two work stoppages in COVID? I think his point is right, though. No one is arguing that Ovechkin's

a better player than Gretzky. No, no, that's not the argument Not the great one now. He's a great one and there's another great one There's one great one What if there's two and by the way Gretzky still has more goals if you include the playoffs 122 to 72 in the post as he would go deeper into the playoffs. Yeah, right To work stoppages and kovat. I heard you Rings, I don't know how you argue though that are veterans not a better goal scorer. That was a wild sentence

Then he's just like you can't argue. He's a bit Gretzky Just traveled to where Ovechkin was to make that acknowledgement like well, he has to say that right You can't say he's a better goal scorer just cuz he has more goals Correct in this game number of games goal for your life You're right. Are you taking empty net or you know who we got in there? Gretzky here Go for your life We're all taking Gretzky you take a vet skin you're dead

His rookie season was delayed an entire year because of a work stoppage. I heard you. If someone was about to beat my record, I would be as far away from the arena as possible. In fact, when John Toto broke my Clark University goals in a season record, I was halfway across the globe in Italy. The boot. I've never going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie.

I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm

not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not

going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to lie. He's not in Kansas anymore. That total. I'll tell you that. Yeah. Thank you. Every time I walk through customs, I feel like I'm about to be arrested. Every time. Nothing worse than walking through customs without anyone

checking a suitcase and everyone greeting you with smiles and saying good day, mate, realizing you could have put 20 packs of dog walkers in your suitcase. Dan, I could have taken 10 pounds of weed. Put it on the poll. And it's disappointing because then I'm in an alley,

I'm talking to Kiwi, I'm making sure I don't get arrested. It's like, you know, it's old school. At LeBotard Show, put it on the poll, do you feel like you're going to get arrested every time you go through customs if you're not a criminal? I do. In honor of me going to Australia,

top five athletes, if they were named after something Australian. Oh, a lot. Desmond Brisbane. Duh! Crocodile Dundee Wade Did you just snort? Kangarooie Hachimora

Number 5, Boomerang Asiason Number 4, Brandon Bondi Beachy Number 3, Rashid Kowalis. Number two, Moises Kangaloo. And number one, the Great Barrier Sharif Abdur Rahim. Moises Kangaloo? That's so good. Here come the Habs.

Habs are tough. Moises Kangaloo is good. No? Boomerisciason is going to be number one. Boomerang? I like Rashid Kowalis. You know what the A in Australia stands for? Not air conditioning. They have AC issues there and ice issues. They don't have ice. We have ice issues here. In this office or

United States? Different kind of ice. Dan, they have a community radio station on Bondi Beach. Anyone could walk in there and take the mic. So naturally, I did. Fired two rugby coaches, compared the careers of Patrick Rafter and Leighton Hewitt. 14 shares. You dominated the airwaves as part of Operation Bloomin' Onion.

Yep, next day I got a job offer from a radio station in Perth. The morning hop around with Kanga Stew. Told him I'd get back to him. Awesome. Dan Weill, me and you, 20% of the Australian baseball league. Oh wow. I cut you in.

Nice, thank you. You got it. It's not big in Australia, it's big in Asia. So that's the play. You're fronting all the capital. 10% for you, 10% for me. We good? I'm serious here.

No, because the play is, Dan, there are many Asian players playing in the Australian baseball league So they get massive numbers those games stream in Asia Japan China everywhere. They get massive numbers No one cares in Australia, but in Asia they care. So this was operation bloom and onion. This is why you were there Yes, yeah, and you're welcome We'll cover it on the hop around Kanga stoop Perth Perth is a funny name. It was a good choice Hey parents got news for you if your son or daughter is studying on Bondi Beach Guess what? They're not doing

studying Partying their asses off. You don't believe in studying abroad, do you? No, I do not. It's a scam. I mean, they'll work at least two more years to pay for Amish trip because Sydney was not enough. Studying abroad was not enough. She went to spring break in Japan. abroad was not enough she went to spring break in Japan she watched some Australian baseball there where was it Bill Raftery is better at his job than anyone in our industry is at their job how about that he's pretty good do you agree though top five people who are better at their jobs than everyone in our industry is at

their job. OLI Roy. Billy. Chris. Mike. Number five. What happened to Jess? Well, I mean, I'm sorry. Jess might be in my top five. Yeah, spoiler alert. Jesus, man. Let me finish.

Number four, Jess. I don't believe that's what that is. Let me see your number four. I'm not going to show you my number. It's my number four. Get your own number four. What do you mean? Good ad lib.

Thank you. Number three, Christopher Mad Dog Russo. What do you mean? Good ad lib. Thank you. Number three Christopher Mad Dog Russo Of course you replaced the woman number two She was four You're supposed to say L Duncan. I forgot about L. I had L at four. Listen, I had to scribble some stuff out. We don't have ink here. So, let me.

We don't have ink. It printed out. It was fuzzy. I can't really read the list. So, L Duncan is four. Jess is two. Stugots came in yesterday saying that he was wildly jealous of ESPN radio's morning show

because they had invented a game pen or pencil Oh my god, Shador Sanders. Yes pen or pencil? Well Shador Sanders to the Giants pen or pencil? If you write it in pen, Dan, you can't erase it with a pencil. You can erase it So if you're saying if you're doing it in pen, then it's happening. Pencil, you're not so sure. It's a good game. What about whiteout? You still making that? I think. Big year last year, whiteout.com.

Stugouts, number one. I didn't finish the list. Jess was two. Bill Raftery was number one. I didn't finish the list. Jess was two. Bill Raftery was number one. What happened to that list? Oh, I Roy Billy Chris Mike five Greg Cody four L Duncan three Christopher Mad Dog Russo

number two Jess number one Bill Raftery. Just get mad at Taylor, Dan. Taylor. Stugots, book number two, titled I Didn't Ask for Any of This, Collision Course, Watching People Trying to Get Organized After a Golf Round, is funny. Whenever a basketball game goes to overtime, I have to turn to the person next to me and say free basketball my wife hates it why is she still married to me I put her through hell speaking of hell or TARD Stugatz This is the Dunlapatar Show with the Stugatz

Did you guys catch last night, we have not talked about this, either one of these games, the Dallas Stars game or the Knicks Celtics game, because the Celtics are rounding into form and I believe that anybody watching basketball knows that one of the best Knicks teams we've ever seen isn't quite good enough, even when healthy, to do the things necessary to topple OKC and Cleveland and Boston. And I don't believe, even though Cleveland's going to be the one seed, I don't believe that many people listening to this will believe that Cleveland can get past Boston until they've actually done so. But how many times have you seen in hockey a three-goal lead evaporate in the last minute? In the last... I don't know. Never? I don't know. I couldn't remember.

You'd be correct. It's never happened before? Never. Never happened before where a 5-2 lead has disappeared in... and how much time was left? Was it more, just more than 60 seconds? The score bug that I saw was 5-2 with a minute left, and Dallas ended up losing that game 6-5. That's crazy. Imagine you had Dallas. There were probably a lot of people that did. It looks more and more like we're gonna get Dallas and Colorado in the first round there. Yeah, I've never seen that before. That's the first time that's happened.

So, yeah, several six on five goals, goes to overtime. Vancouver wins a game that, I'd win probability. This might have been the first ever 100% win probability that's been lost in sports history. It's insane. You say 100% win probability, but I'm always noticing when a game is 61 to three or something with a minute left,

that the win probability will always be 99.9% because they don't actually wanna give you the 100% because things like this. They don't wanna commit to it. They're covering their ass. That it that should be put up on the pole at LeBata show if you're up 5-2 with a minute left in hockey should your win probability be 100% there is something curious happening in hockey there have been fewer power plays called this year not by a little by a lot by an incredible amount and the reasoning behind it

is not that the players are playing any cleaner. It's that power plays have become such an advantage in this league. The teams have gotten so good with the man advantage. And a couple of the goals there came with a man advantage, six on five, which is different than a five on four. But the power play has become such an advantage. Teams are just so good at it right now that the league is kind of legislating it on its own. We cannot call what was a penalty last year a penalty this year because it is almost a certain goal. So that comeback kind of speaks into

how good these special teams have gotten on the offensive. Is anyone better than Edmonton was last year when they entered the playoffs at like a 42% clip of succeeding on power plays is there anyone this year that is mathematically empirically better than that and as you look for the answer on that question and you mentioned a first-round matchup how close are we in the West to getting Lakers Warriors in the first round because of how things have to break here at the end as Denver is firing it.

There's a first, there is going to be a first round. I don't know if you guys are watching what the Clippers are doing, but I thought the Clippers were championship good last year if they'd been healthy, and I never expect them to be healthy. But if you see what's happening, not with Kawhi Leonard or James Harden but with Zubok who like just had a perfect game of 25 and 10 where he made all of his field goals

didn't have a turnover made all of his free throws it was something that has rarely happened in the sport they're playing a style of basketball that makes it that a dominant postman can actually matter in the league in a way that's a little bit unusual and I don't know what is going to shake out on 4-5 in the first round in the west but would you be excited or disappointed if it was Lakers Warriors and one of them was suddenly eliminated given how everybody is covering basketball or so many people are covering this basketball this year where they refuse to talk about the top four seeds unless it's the

Lakers. The Clippers have won five straight. It's incredible when you consider Paul George is no longer there. They've won eight of ten. I think Tyrone Lue is probably he has to be up there Tyron Tyron Lue in terms of you know top three or four coaches in the NBA. I would love to see the Lakers and the Warriors. I just like to see it later in the playoffs. But I'll take it. I'll take it anytime I can get it. Like that's going to be fun, right? I think that people will be disappointed if you don't get the star power, the aged star power that you want deep in the playoffs. I don't, I think if I offer that to

the average basketball fan and say, would you like to see Warriors L deep in the playoffs i don't like i think if i offer that to the average basketball fan and say would you like to see warriors lakers in the first round or would you like to see them play others and try to ava advance to around that has more stakes given what happened on christmas day right that yet that the clinging to familiar makes it so basketball cannot compete with the nfl except when it's lebron and stephan it happened the other night right it happened that the laker games are still the ones that are doing uh... giant numbers even

though uh... it's been a little bit on even with the lakers and i still don't really know how this is going to work with luca because i see an awful lot of six for seventeen sir six for nineteen uh... from him and it's just not it's not what you need from him he's got to be the best that the best basketball player in your team can't be the oldest player in the league i don't care if you ask the nba if you asked adam silver who do you want matched up in the western conference finals if you could

have any two teams he would tell you Lakers-Warriors, right? That's the answer. That's the highest rated TV series in this playoffs, if it happens. Potentially higher rated, I think, than an OKC Cleveland Finals. Can you get me the Stat of the Day music here, please, and the Gas Bag of the Week as well, because I want to tie the stat of the day to something here that people aren't talking about that perhaps they should be. Start of the day, start of the day, it is the start of the day.

Start of the day, start of the day, it is the start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day, it is the start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day, it is the start of the day. I don't think this stat has changed in the last couple of days because Oklahoma City was just playing against the Lakers and this is a couple of days old and I have not refreshed it but the Oklahoma City Thunder against the East this year, 29 and won. They've lost one time against the East and it is a little bit strange to have a team doing this well in the league and have it be in the shadows. But what Oklahoma City has done in terms of architecture on team building, the Paul George Kauai Leonard trade is going to go down as one of the greatest trades the other way that there's ever been.

And the stockpiling of draft picks in a city where you can tie people down for a while by contract because of the economy of the sport puts them in a position with young players. Because that team is super young. They behave young. They behave goofy and silly in a way that's not immature the way John Morant is immature, goofy and silly after games in a way that is childish and fun. Their style of play offensively and defensively is fun and the team is personality fun, but we're not quite ready to give the league over to them yet. Folks listen up, they're here and they're hot. Get ready because Jimmy John's is turning up the heat. After years of perfecting the cold sandwich, toasted sandwiches are finally here. Try one of their three all new toasted creations.

The toasted chicken bacon ranch, all natural chicken, creamy homestyle ranch, applewood smoked bacon, melted provolone, fresh veggies, all on a perfectly toasted French bread. Good God does that sound delicious? Or the toasted roast beef and cheddar, premium roast beef, melty cheddar, creamy horseradish sauce, crispy fried onions, fresh veggies, golden toasted French bread. It just keeps getting better. And the toasted ultimate Italian salami, capicola, smoked ham,

applewood smoked bacon, melted provolone, shredded Parmesan, fresh veggies toasted to perfection. Or take your favorite Jimmy John classics like the number nine Italian nightclub or the number 11 country club and get them toasted. Order now at jimmyjohns.com on the Jimmy John's app or stop by your local Jimmy John's today. Folks, it's Mike Ryan. And do you know that Miller Lite has basically been a partner of this show for almost 20 years? And as we celebrate 50 years of Miller Lite, that means for a large chunk of it, and look,

I didn't go to school for math, but I'm pretty sure that's like 80% of the time that Miller Lite's been existing, they've been with our show. And I'm so grateful for it, because we truly believe this. If you listen to us back in our radio days throughout our times in national radio, to the pirate face, to now, you know that Miller Lite has been a huge supporter of ours. And I've always been a huge supporter of Miller Lite. Why? Because it's got taste you know you can depend on.

A great beer trusted by beer lovers for 50 years. Miller Lite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to MillerLite.com slash Dan to find delivery options near you or you can pick up Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.