The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 05/24/2021 - HOUR 3 - Playoffs

Episode Date: May 24, 2021

More on the Lakers-Suns seriesColin's new face bracket for the NBA playoffsGuest: Bill Oram Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

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Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games.

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Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversation. with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

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So tonight, Joy, we have Denver, Portland. Heat Bucks. Those are good games. This is a great time of the year. And it really is. There's a couple series that you know are not going to last long. Sixers, Washington is not a great matchup. Net Celtics.

Those are, you know, the bottom of the east is pretty weak. But if the bottom of the west is Memphis and Donovan Mitchell is, maybe plays, maybe doesn't, he thought he was going to play. And then they called him out. And he was not happy about it. But Utah needs his offense. They, you know, go bears, their second best player, but he's not really an offensive guy.

So, and the Lakers, I feel like they'll win. but boy, first playoff game in 11 years for Phoenix. That place was, I just talked to Bill Orham. Only 11,000 there. It sounded like it was full. It felt like every building was full this weekend. Fans were going to make up for the seats that were empty. Bill Orham writes for the Athletic has covered the Lakers for the last seven,

eight years, and he covers the Lakers for the Athletic. He is joining us live. So, you know, Anthony Davis is an interesting player, Bill, in that, and he's always kind of been like this. He's not necessarily always healthy or self-motivated, but man, when he's on, he is just a handful. And yesterday, you could tell early, it's like, yeah, he's not ready to, when you talk to him after

and you talk to Frank Vogel after, was Frank upset? Or do you just, as somebody that covers the Lakers, do you kind of come to terms that you get a bunch of these with Anthony? I think it's really more of the latter. And, you know, I think you hope, obviously, that, you know, biggest game of the year, which is, you know, the opening, you know, salvo of a playoff series, you'd want him to be locked in and be the best version of himself. But, you know, he's a guy who tries to make the right play. He's looking for his teammates.

He tries to, you know, he tries to facilitate. He's one of the best playmaking bigs in the modern game. But he was not locked in yesterday. I thought he was way too passive. A lot of stuff in the mid-range. And one of the great things about Anthony Davis is his accountability. We've seen it really in his two years with the Lakers. He's the first to tell you when he doesn't play to his own standard.

And he said all the right things last night that, you know, this loss is on me and we're not going to win a game, let alone a series if I play the way I did yesterday. But the bottom line is, you know, the Lakers don't have that much room for error against the Sun's team. And, you know, being down 0-1 is not the end of the world. They came back from two-0-1 deficits in the first two rounds last year. Yeah. But the Suns are not the Blazers or rockets of a year ago.

And if Chris Paul's healthy, which is going to be a huge. huge if, I think, but that makes this a much tougher hill to climb. So they needed the Anthony Davis to be locked in from the beginning. And for whatever reason, he wasn't. There was sort of an aggressive boxout by Chris Paul. Frank Vogel noted it. What was in the Liker locker room? What was the vibe on that moment? Because what was interesting is, you know, LeBron was like rolling on the floor and, you know, and the rest of the team's moving over to, you know, Chris Byte. It's weird. It's, LeBron's had these injuries. And my gut is like, oh boy, he's being overly dramatic, but it was kind of a marginally dangerous play, right?

Yeah, I think, you know, you watch it and you see Chris Paul kind of get under LeBron's arm and yank. And you're dealing with, you know, obviously, you know, the shoulder or Chris Paul, I mean, there's, I guess, sort of an irony to it because Chris Paul was dealing with his own shoulder injury yesterday. But it was, it was a really strange, a really strange sequence because you then had a basically a fracas, a melee, break out separate from that. So I'm sitting there watching, you know, Montrez-Herald come in at Cameron Payne, seemingly unrelated to the fact that the best player in the world and the Lakers' most important player is riding in pain on the floor.

And I'm like, maybe you guys should stop beating each other up and go see if LeBron is okay because that is the key to this whole series. But, you know, Chris Paul is a vet. You know, he's obviously a guy who, you know, like kind of plays on the margins a little bit to compensate for some of his, you know, for the fact that he's a smaller player. But that was a play that, like you said, Frank Vogel, you know, had no hesitation to call a dangerous play. And, you know, LeBron, it was interesting. Like, this is LeBron's best friend.

And earlier in the game, we saw Chris Paul collide with LeBron and that led to his shoulder injury. And then you have kind of the tables turn. But when LeBron was asked about it, and he was asked directly, was it a dangerous play? And all he said was, I'll be ready for game too. So interpret that how you will. I felt like there was a little saltiness there from LeBron. You know, it's interesting because when you watch Chris Paul, even though he wasn't scoring, he was on the floor,

and he's so crucial to this team. You know, he's barking at players. He's directing traffic, but he could not control the ball with his right hand. Obviously, the shoulder was an issue. So what's Monty Williams say after? Where are we with that thing? I mean, the sons aren't going to tell you that Chris Paul is messed up and that his arm is not going to be the same.

it was hard to watch him yesterday and think that with a 48-hour recovery time that he's going to be back to 100%. He had a hard time controlling the ball with his right hand on that first possession. You saw him kind of look at his hand like, I don't know if he didn't have feeling in it, but he wasn't able to, you know, he didn't have the same command of the ball that you expect from Chris Paul. And then nothing to his right. He wasn't able to pass the ball with his right hand. He was passing the ball with his left almost exclusively. And anything he did do with his right hand had no zip to. There was no pace on his passes.

And so, listen, a one-armed Chris Paul might be better than like a two-armed Cameron Payne, as good of a year as Cameron Payne has had as his backup. You know, Chris still does have a real control of the game. But that is a huge advantage for the Lakers if Chris is playing injured. And like obviously injuries are part of the game. LeBron is hobbled with the ankle and the, you know, maybe now a shoulder thing. I mean, there is a lot to monitor injury-wise. But, you know, Chris Paul not being at 100%, you know, to me would probably really close.

the pathway for the Lakers to get out of this opening round series. You know, DeAndre Aiton's a terrific player, but he's a kid, Bill. God, he's 23 years old, and this is not a big team. I mean, Dario Sarich is playing center. I didn't even know he was a center. Crowder's about 6'6. So as I watch this series,

I thought to myself, you know, this is it looks solvable. The Laker problems, in my opinion, looks solvable. I don't think DeAndre Aiton is going to put the clamps on AD for the next five or six games. What do you envision over the next. Let's just go to game two. What do you envision the Lakers look like offensively?

Well, I first of all, I would expect Anthony Davis to really respond. I mean, we've seen him kind of when he does hold himself accountable. And LeBron had this line yesterday when he said, I love when AD puts that pressure on himself because he always responds and comes back in a big way. So I do think that'll be the case. I think you'll see a big AD game in game two, where the Lakers will make a point of getting him established inside early. I really would not be surprised to see the Lakers change things up in the front court early. They seem really committed to Andre Drummond starting at center, but they have very viable options in the front court to pair with Anthony Davis. And Mark Gassal, who was a DNP yesterday, has played well against the Sons.

He played big minutes in their matchup with them in the regular season back on May 9th when Anthony Davis had 42 points and went just absolutely crazy against the Sons. I would expect maybe you see a little more Mark Gassal in game two to free up Anthony Davis. and, you know, I just think that, you know, the Lakers are, you know, the defending champions, and I would expect them to respond as such. And, you know, they shot 26% from three in game one. And the Lakers are not a great three-point shooting team, but you saw them open with KCP missing four threes in the first quarter. You know, that's probably not going to happen again.

CCP is a streaky shooter. Yeah. But he was their second, he was probably their third most consistent player in the postseason a year ago. He was. And I would expect things to sort of settle down a little bit now. that the Lakers are into the series. So I think, you know, I think they'll be better, but, you know, the Sons are, I mean, the Sons beat the Lakers despite a 16, you know, free throw disparity yesterday.

So they've won that game handily, not just, not just, you know, it wasn't a close back and forth could have gone either way game. I thought that was really a blowout for the sun. So I felt the same way. I felt they were in control. I'll tell you this. We were talking about Devin Booker. There are guys, Bill, you've covered the league long enough. I'll never compare anybody to Kobe, but there are players who are just natural scores. Devin Booker is a night. I mean, KCP is a long, strong defender. There's nothing.

I mean, I don't remember the regular season games. I'm sure you do. When you play Phoenix, do you just sort of say, let Booker get his 30? Just just, I don't, I watched him yesterday, and I thought he's going to do whatever he wants in the series. I think there is some of that. And, you know, Devin Booker, it's actually funny, got ejected from one of the regular season games against the Lakers early on. So we didn't see him in one of those

matchups because he took himself out of the game, basically. But, you know, the Sons really have three or four guys who can beat you. And, you know, Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Diann, and I feel like the Lakers, for all intents and purposes, should have a pretty significant edge on the inside with Aiden. You know, they have Anthony Davis. They have Andre Drummond. LeBron is a dominant interior player. So I don't really see any reason that the Lakers shouldn't be able to neutralize the André Aiton and what the Suns do on the Interior. Like he said, Dario Sarich, like I'm not overwhelmed by the Sun's front line. But you've got to be able to at least shut everyone else down around Devin Booker if he's

going to be getting 30 points. You know, Chris Paul, you know, I don't know if he ended up with like seven points maybe in game one, but he had total command of the game, the assists were high, the rebounds, controls the pace. I think, you know, you can't let McHale Bridges, Jay Crowder, Sarich, campaign. Those guys can't be getting open looks and, and, and, and, you know, because if you're forcing the ball away from Devin Booker, that is a win, but you can't have those other guys beating you. Good stuff. Bill Orem, the athletic Laker Riders since 2013. Bill is always good talking to you.

My pleasure, Colin. Thanks for having me on. You bet. Yeah, I mean, what we saw over the weekend, Trey Young took over the game late for the Hawks and Devin Booker took over the game. Tobias Harris. He's not a young kid. But John Morant, you're seeing some of these young guards in wings. And again, this used to be, I'm not a rearview mirror guy, but it used to be you could hand check. And there's, you know, Michael Jordan or Gary Payton could just keep John Stockton. You could keep guys in front of you. You just can't. You just have, I mean, guys like Trey Young, John Morant, Steph Curry, you just, Kyrie Irving, they're going to get to the basket.

There's no getting around it. They are going to get to the basket. So it's fun. I mean, Devin Booker, there's not a lot you can do. He is born to score. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark, Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. We got a little bit of everything this weekend. And Phil Mickelson made golf history, winning the PGA championship this weekend. He pulled away from Brooks Kepka early on Sunday and held on to win by two strokes.

This was his second PGA championship in his first major title since 2013. And at age 50, he became the oldest golfer to win a major. I love courses on the water, the aerial views. You definitely get a wind. There's something about it's you're outside, it's sunny, you're getting wind, so you've got to play the wind. You get these beautiful views. I mean, it's not Pebble Beach, but

there's just something, and there's something about the crowds when you get these courses next to the water? Lubricated. Lubricated for sure, but it was just so different to experience sports again with these big crowds. Everyone was just rooting fill on, and the crowds are just like rolling with every up and down.

It was great to see. I'm glad that there was a crowd there to see that. And I love that Mickelson held off one of the, the two really powerful. Dustin Johnson and Brooks Kepka are hit at a mile, young and athletic, good-looking guys. So it was kind of old school and old bomber against young bombers. And Brooks Kepka didn't put particularly well on Saturday. And that gave Phil a little edge and he held on to it. He is now the 14th man to win at least six majors in his career. He had, at 50s, impressive. And what does he have? Forty-five.

total, he may have 45 total. I think he's got 44, McGill's under 45 total career wins. He got three masters. The reality is he had the misfortune of being in his prime, mostly when Tiger had the greatest decade of golf, or you could probably give him at least four more majors. You know,

you were talking about old guys dominating, and it reminded me of that Toby Keith song. What is it? I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was. The great poet. It's a good line. It's true, though. It's true.

So the drama between Russell Wilson and the Seahawks seems to be coming to an end. According to Jeremy Fowler, Russ is very happy with the moves. Seattle Made in Free Agency in the draft. Is this a breaking news? Was this just come out? I mean, I don't know that it's like breaking news. I feel like we could have assumed that things got a little quiet since they've made all these moves. I've been critical of Pete Carroll and John Snyder, the GM.

I thought they did a really good job. They upgraded on the O line. they definitely upgraded at tight end. They re-signed Chris Carson. I thought Seattle deserves credit. Then they went out and got another wide receiver. And they clearly opened the doors of communication with Russ. I'm a new coordinator.

He seems to be happy with it. He and Pete Carroll had steady contact over the last few months to figure out how the team could get better. Pete Carroll called their issues old news. He said a lot of things got magnified in the media and they all worked to get on the same page and withstand any scrutiny that came their way. And he feels like we did that. I don't know that it got magnified. It was very, very public that Russ was not happy with the situation.

And that wasn't coming from somebody's imagination. No, Russ gave you four cities he moved to. By the way. We didn't just come up with four cities that he was comfortable going to. It was interesting. So yesterday, Peter King, I was on the interweb. And Peter King had his one through 32 power rankings he released yesterday. He had like Seattle 12th.

And I was like, time out. they gave Russell Wilson a new receiver and an excellent tight end Gerald Everett. They upgraded the offensive line and they drafted a really good corner at Oklahoma. I'm like Seattle is not the 12th best team in the league. They're a top six team. I would have them higher as well, yes. Because their issue now, their offensive line, they're below average at center, but left tackle they're great, right guard, they're good, left guard Gabe Jackson,

they're good, tight end now they're excellent. I think Seattle is a real team. Well, I also think that going into next year, all this drama that was going on seems to now be fixed. They clearly were communicating with Russ and trying to get on the same page with him and keep him happy, which you should do when you have Russell Wilson,

a Hall of Fame quarterback in his prime. Other teams might want to take note of that. And so now they have continuity going into next season and everyone seems to be happy. So you're bringing a lot of guys back, you made upgrades, and everyone's on the same page. That's going to be crucial. And they were not bad last year.

I don't know why everyone thinks like Seattle was a bad team last year. So we were just talking about Chris Paul having to leave yesterday's game against the Lakers with a shoulder injury in the second quarter. He came back and played through the injury in the 9990 win. And when he was asked if he'll be ready for game two, he said absolutely game two is Tuesday at 10 Eastern. Joy, look, we're going to show all this video. It looks like a nerve thing. So watch right here.

they're it's like you ever get your head you wake up in the morning and your shoulder hurts yeah like you twisted your head if you look at him you look at the shoulder it didn't look like a contact no it looks like what happened is his head got moved quickly

and it pulled a nerve so I don't know you know again that's whatever a medical staff does to a nerve right but it wasn't like a violent collision it was like his head got jarred quickly and it's because when he lost controlled the ball with his right hand. You can just see he just couldn't control it. That looks more nerve to me. Well, it was clearly something because he had to come out of the game. I don't know how close to 100% he's going to be and whatever 100% is relative at this point in the season anyway,

but you know, you would prefer this not be what he's fighting through in a series against the Lakers, but I still thought it was a really great, great win for the sons. And I'm happy for those fans too. Like that was a fun atmosphere. I'm not expecting Anthony David. just have the same performance moving forward, but who knows? It's going to be a lot tougher for the Lakers in this series if he does. Oh, yeah. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The herd-line news. It has been mocked and ridiculed, but we keep bringing it back because we just massacists. We'd like to get beat up here. It's called our face bracket. We just, the best player, not necessarily what I believe in the NFL, but what I do in NFL as I just picked the best quarterback. And so we put the faces up. And last year it was, you know, we got Mahomes and Brady.

This was pretty darn accurate, right? So we'll do the face bracket in the NBA. Does the best player win the series. That's coming up. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. What's up, everyone? It's me three-time NFL All-Pro Sean Marion.

And I have a new sports podcast called The Lights Out Podcast. with Sean Murrayman. This podcast is special to me as I get a chance to talk to some of the best who've ever done it on the field or the track. So whether it's talking to a Super Bowl champion or a NASCAR Cup Series champion, the Lights Out podcast will bring it to you the only way I know how to. I'm giving you the best insight from the best who's ever done it. Listen to Lights Out with Sean Merriman on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life. mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own

experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Search learn the hard way and listen now. Hot water that never runs out. Go tankless. Go with Navian.

Tankless made simple.com. Tankless made simple.com. So we do the face bracket in football. You roll your eyes, but the last two years, it's been bizarrely accurate. Well, we just say, who's the best quarterback all through the playoffs? And that tells us who's going to win the Super Bowl. So in the NBA, we decided today, let's do a face bracket for the NBA playoffs. And what we're trying to tell you is who do we believe in this series being played going forward,

who will be the best player in that series, and then what will be the outcome? This isn't necessarily my picks. We're just picking best player and let's see where it takes us. Okay, let's do it. Western Conference, Rudy Gobert or John Morant. Well, it is a guard-driven league. Rudy Goldberg in 33 playoff games, in 30 or 33, he scored 20 or fewer. And Donovan Mitchell right now is not playing.

So I would say John Morant is the best player in this series. He had 10 of his 26 in the 4th. And again, no, you can't stop John Morant. You can't keep him in front of you. So John Morant is the best player in the Jazz Memphis series. Okay. Next series is Dallas and the Clippers. So Luca or Kauai Leonard.

Well, let's be honest. Kauai last two years has struggled late in games. Luca has not. Luca's averaging in the playoffs in his career, 31, 10, and 9.5 assists. So you're asking me, late games are what decide playoffs? I would take Luca over Kauai. LeBron Chris Paul Laker's sons. Let's not get into it.

LeBron's never lost a first round playoff series 14 and 0. It's LeBron. Damian Lillard or Yokic, Portland, Denver. Okay. Yokic just set a career low in assists in a game. I think Portland's got enough bigs to make him work for it. I don't think Denver has anybody on that roster that can stop Damian Lillard. So I think Dame's going to be the best player in this series.

You can take your MVP vote. I don't care. Let's go to the second round in the West. Now it's John Moran against Luca. Listen, Luca's got more games, more experience. This is a lot for John Morant to go head to head with Luca. And Luca's got three triple doubles in seven career playoff games. John Morant's got three triple doubles in his career.

I would take Luca. Okay, LeBron against Dame Lillard. Again, LeBron not only is great, he has owned Portland. Now, with Powell, they match up a little better against him, but LeBron has averaged 28, 10, and 10,

so I'll take LeBron. And then, Western Conference Finals, LeBron against Luca, well, LeBron's reached the finals, the last nine times he's been in the playoffs, so I'm going to take LeBron over Luca in the Western Conference finals. So there is my face bracket.

So in review, John Morant over Rudy Gabbar, Luca over Kauai, again, I'm not saying all time, I'm saying in that series, LeBron over Chris Paul, and Dame over Yokic. Then I take Luca over John Morant, LeBron over Dame,

LeBron over Luca, And then LeBron went to. So that's the Lakers in the finals of our goofy NBA face bracket. Not telling you it's what I think, although this does work out. But the Luca Kauai one's interesting because you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Last two years, Kauai can't close. That's what playoff games are. Luca does.

I'm taking Luke over Kauai in that series. Let's go to the east. All right, Joel and Beater Bradley Beal. First of all, Beal's 0 for 4 this year against the Sixers. I like Bradley Beal. I don't think he's 100% right now. I would take Joel M.B. Julius Randall, Tray Young.

Now, it's not fair because yesterday Randall was bad. But let's not kid ourselves. Again, it's a John Morant situation. Trey Young is more explosive, a better per-your shooter. He can make his own shot. Julius Randall doesn't really create his own shot much. Trey Young can get a shot anytime he wants, any day of the week, twice on Sundays, and yesterday was Sunday, and he did get it twice.

So I'll take in that spot, Trey Young. Kevin Durant, Jason Tatum. Well, listen, Kevin Durant did not play well early and still at both teams and points and rebounds. If you want to know how good Kevin Durant is, yesterday is a prime example. That was the quietest 32 points you will ever see in a game. I mean, Kevin didn't even play particularly well. for about 50% of the game and ends up with 32.

He is so gifted as a score. And then we go to Jimmy Butler against Yonis. Now again, in this series, what'll matter more? I would take Jimmy Butler. He's a better late game free throw shooter. He is a better offensive skill player than Yonis is. Butler, by the way, had a great year, career high on rebounds, assists and field goal percentage for the season.

I do not trust Yonis late in games. So there's your first round in the East. Let's go to the second round. Joel Embed against Trey Young. Well, Embed, in his last four playoff games, has given you 30 plus. He's a handful. Joel Embed is the closest thing we have to Shaq for you guys who are in your 20s and didn't see Shaq. Shaq was like Joe Al-M-Bed both funny, both explosive, both occasionally get injured,

both when they're on unstoppable. Now it's KD, Jimmy Butler. Well, I think KD is a more gifted offensive player. By the way, they've met 10 times, and KD has beaten Jimmy Butler, seven of the 10 times they've met, and KD has outscored Jimmy Butler in every single game they have met, and say, now we go to the conference finals.

Look at M. Beat. M. Beat even looks funny. He's like laughing in the picture. They're still shot. He's happy. So M. Beat against Kevin. DeRant. Well, Kevin Durant, this is an amazing stat if you really think about it. Kevin Durant, because he's had injuries in missed playoff games, right? Kevin Durant has 41 playoff games with over 30

points or 30 plus points. Katie's a two-time NBA champ. He's a two-time finals MVP. So in big games, you would take Katie. And so now, in review, let's look at the Eastern Bracket. So I took M. Bede over Bradley Biel, Trey Young over Julius Randall, KD over Jason Tatum, and Jimmy Butler over Janus. You see that right there. Second round, I took M. Bid over Trey Young. I took KD over Jimmy Butler. He's had his number. Then I take KD over Joel M. Bid. And now we get LeBron against KD. Oh, they're smiling now. One of them is going to be crying after that. LeBron has averaged more points, more rebounds, and more assists than KD in 14 career head-to-head playoff matchups. Bet you didn't know that.

LeBron's a four-time champ, a four-time finals MVP, KD's half that with both. I would take LeBron. I say this with reservation based on what mood and what level of motivation Anthony Davis has. But that's not how the face bracket works. It's just about LeBron. That's right. You're right.

My bad. You just pick it on faces. Just the best player. Huh? It's just the best player in the series. Yes. In that series, who will be the best player? Like Jimmy Butler, Yonis, I pick Milwaukee.

But you cannot, it's just like Kauai, Luca. Kauai last six minutes. Non-factor. Yonis, last five minutes. I don't want the ball in his hands. So you tell me in the moment, even though I picked Milwaukee, and I watched the, I didn't sell any of my stock yesterday on Milwaukee. I'm like, they're inartistic.

This is what they are. This is how Milwaukee is going to win the game. Like, when I watch the Knicks, I'm like, yeah, all the games in this series are going to look just like that. In fact, if you're a Nick fan, you could wake up this morning and go, it's kind of encouraging. That's the worst game Julius Randall's played in the month. And we could have won the game. I mean, I think yesterday you were pretty frustrated, but yeah, once you've settled down a little bit.

Think about it. Like, you wouldn't. The thing about the first game of the series is we all overreact to it. Of course. And put way too much emphasis on it. But as a fan, you want to get that first game. Well, and the first, the team that wins the first game wins 79% of the games. Yeah, it's not that it doesn't matter.

It certainly, it certainly matters. Ask yourself this, though. Isn't it weird? You know you have an institutional problem. When the clippers were totally healthy, they have two of the best two-way players in the league, Paul George Kauai, playoff Rondo. Tailu's won a title.

And they couldn't score for six minutes against Dallas. Dallas is a, this is not a shot at anybody. Lucas is not a good defensive player yet. They couldn't, they couldn't score against Dallas. Like, what is that tell you? That's what I said. That's a problem. I know Tileu said that's not why they sound.

them but the public perception is that you duck the Lakers be careful this was what you wish for because if you get knocked in the first round after pulling that move whether they did or didn't most people think they did yeah that's rough Chris broussard was on earlier today we we did ask him I we asked him about you know the AD thing he drives you nuts and why Broussard I asked him why why can't you count on AD the rest of the way the Lakers you can't consistently expect great performances from AD this year. He's not himself.

So I think Colin throughout this series, he's going to have a couple of great games. He's going to have a couple of solid games. And he's going to have another bad game probably. It's not just his numbers, which were horrible yesterday, and his plus minus was twice as bad as any other player in the game.

It's that he let DeAndre Aiton in his first ever playoff game gain confidence. It was a horrible performance by AD. I think the Lakers still win this series, but he's going to have his hands full now. Yeah, Lakers being down 01, they were down 01 twice last year, and then both series won the next four. So we don't worry about the Lakers being down. LeBron is fine being backed up against a wall. I use M Drive every day, free shipping, 60-day money-back guarantee, keeps me leaner, little more energy as I age, go to M-Dry.

drive for men.com. MDrive for men.com. Again, free shipping. NHRA from Houston on FS1 is next. Speak for yourself. Is on FS2. Check it out. We'll see you tomorrow for Joy.

Ryan, in LA, it's the hurt. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

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