The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 02/06/2019

Episode Date: February 6, 2019

Colin discusses the turmoil going on for the Los Angeles Lakers after their 42 point loss last night, why he is sticking up for Los Angeles Rams HC Sean McVay on a certain issue, which of the curtain dynasties will last the longest, and his thoughts on Golden State Warriors F Kevin Durant possibly going to the New York Knicks. Also, NFL Analyst Greg Cosell stops by to give his thoughts on the Patriots victory over the Rams.  Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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. 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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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American soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on the only score at the chip. Score! I'm Tab Ramos. I'm Tom Boke. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines, the biggest decisions, and the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals.

Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific, on. Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowher on Fox Sports Radio.

Ah, here we go. So Wednesday, this is The Herd. Wherever you may be, however you may be listening. We are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, a crazy, crazy. Post-Super Bowl NBA Trade Day schedule. Joy Taylor is joining me. How are you, Joy? I'm great.

How are you? Well, I'm watching the Lakers last night, lose by 42, which is the worst loss than a game LeBron James has ever played in. It was the ugliest game. And it was very obvious by the middle of the second quarter. The Lakers were uninspired, flat. Pacers are missing their best player.

Pacers are not a great team without Victor Oladipo, and they ran them off the floor. and the gap in talent, frankly, was not 42 points. But this, of course, happened. Because for the last nine days, these Anthony Davis and Laker rumors have been demoralizing to the team. If you were told as Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, your whole life, AAU, high school, college, you were really good. And you got to the NBA and people said, you have a chance to be really special.

and then you found out in the paper and on blogs and on the internet, you're basically an end table in the world of furniture. You're a throw pillow. You don't matter. You're a pawn. You're irrelevant. Yeah, I'm guessing you wouldn't be motivated to play either. This has been embarrassing.

It's embarrassing for the Lakers who are obviously leaking stuff to protect their brand, to prove to their fans, we're trying, we're trying, we're trying, we're trying to prove to LeBron. We're trying, we're trying, we're trying to get you a star. And obviously clutch sports. LeBron's camp is leaking stuff because they want to make sure their guy knows. And everybody knows they're trying to get this. They're putting pressure on the Lakers. I've got to get this puppy done.

I want to get Anthony Davis out of New Orleans. I mean, some ugliness is inevitable if you want to get Anthony Davis out of New Orleans. I mean, it was bound to get a little ugly, but this is Titanic level stuff. It's awful. welcome, I guess, to the new LeBron business. There's literally competing factions within the Lakers now. There are pictures on the internet, people at the game last night, taking a picture of the Laker bench, LeBron to the corner, other players over here,

Rondo apparently's daughter was in town, he's sitting with the fans. It is a mess. And oh, by the way, the Clippers traded a very good player last night, Tobias Harris to the Sixers. He's a very nice player. But you know what's interesting about that? You didn't hear a word about it. And you didn't hear a word when Star Chris Paul went to the Rockets either. And you didn't hear a word when Blake Griffin went to the Pistons either.

Because Jerry West is a professional. Jerry West is quiet. Jerry West is a pro's pro. You didn't hear a peep when Chris Paul, a star got traded. Blake Griffin, a star got traded. Last night, Tobias Harris hits a game winning shot last night for the Clippers. Wakes up. He's been traded.

It's like a bank robbery. You wake up and go to the bank. Where's the money? I mean, because the Clippers now are the well-run organization. That's not leaking stuff. I mean, Magic Johnson. Stay off Jimmy Kimmel. Last night's 42-point loss is a direct result of the mayhem and the chaos and the dysfunction right now.

Stay off late night shows. Stop calling up blogs and NBA guys to protect your brand. For the record, when the New England Patriots acquired Randy Moss, nobody knew it the second until it happened. When the New England Patriots traded Jimmy Garoppolo, we were all shocked. There was no tip off to the media. Okay. The reality is it doesn't matter if it's the White House or an NBA team. if there's leaks it's not well run and it's not a very good sign of course lebron afterwards this is

the lebron slight of hand lebron saying hey i know it's tough on a lot of our guys especially our young guys they're hearing it every single day you know you got to stay off social media you know young guys love social media so i you know i definitely they got to stay off social media LeBron acting as if, yes, I mean, I have no part of this. I'm just watching this unfold. I have nothing to do with this, of course. And like LeBron's not on social media all day as well. Keep your business private.

Don't go on late night talk shows. Don't leak stuff. Don't try to protect your brand. You know what your brand is, Lakers? Really ugly, the last several years and really bad if you'd Don't land Anthony Davis. And for the next three months, you're going to have Luke Walton trying to coach a team where every single player believes that LeBron James and his guys see them as just pawns.

Luke Walton's done if this thing doesn't get made. LeBron's going to be unhappy. Young players are going to be disengaged. Now the Lakers are completely trapped. I mean, this is not how anybody does their business. I'm not saying Anthony Davis to the Lakers or trading a big star from a small market to L.A. is going to be perfect. I get it.

You know, I get it. This had the potential because Anthony Davis is going to have to come out and say, I got to leave. Yeah, I want to go. I'm not saying it was going to be perfect harmony. But this thing's a mess. The Clippers, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Tobias Harris, Jerry West running the show. Not a peep. previous White House to the one now.

Not a peep. I can tell a well-run business by what gets out. Everything on this trade has gotten out. Let me shift gears to this. I've been very tough on Sean McVeigh coach of the Rams. I said during the season, I like him, but let's wait to coronate him, you know, Vince Lombardi. Let's wait to coronate him Bill Belichick. Let's just, he was in a playoffs last year he lost.

Let's slow down on the Sean McVeigh. I think he's really talented kid. In my business, I see talented 30-year-olds all the time. Let's not turn them into, you know, Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh. Let's slow down a little bit here. And then when Sean McVe lost this past weekend, I said, I thought he got out-coached. And I think he has a certain system. He doesn't adapt necessarily well.

He will over time. He's a smart guy. He's a good listener. He's a good coach. But there's a piece of film out this morning that people are just dissecting and making way too much of. So let me defend him. Here's the piece of. film and people think Sean McVey is just too fawning before the game to Bill Balliachek.

So much respect for you. Likewise. You've done a great job. So, hey, you always do, though. And doing it, you know, you're the best, man. The way that you guys are able to shift your identity and really still be able to figure it out. I mean, week in and week out, it's unbelievable, man. Really, so much respect for you and the way you do it, man.

You're what's right about coaching. Thank you. Appreciate you, coach. Now was 12 seconds. What did you want him to do? Trash talk, Belich. not talk to Belichick. By the way, that's how a young announcer treats Vin Scully when he meets him.

That's how young NBA players treat Kobe Bryant for 12 seconds when they meet him. That's how many young quarterbacks when they are on the field for the first time and they see Tom, they go over like, hey man, I've been watching you forever. You're awesome, dude. Totally respect your game. That's what I've done going up to a young Bob Costas years ago, 30 years ago. What did you want him to do? Trash talk him? Bill Belichick's the greatest football coach of our lives.

One of the reason Sean McVeigh is an amazing young football coach is because he's watched. He's watched Belichick and he's watched Bill Walsh and he's watched Jimmy Johnson and he's taken stuff from him. So when he sees him before the big of his game of his career and walks up to him for 10 to 12 seconds, what do you want him to do? I mean, in the World Series, don't tell me this is, you don't want to do this before big games. I see in the World Series guys around the batting cage laughing and joking. And 15 minutes later, you know, that pitcher's facing that batter.

In the NBA, I see guys all have the same agents. Over here at UCLA, Westbrook works out with KD, works out with LeBron, works out, all off-season. I see this stuff all the time in sports, people going up and saying, hey, man, you don't think young quarterbacks before they face Peyton Manning and on the football field didn't walk up and say, hey, man, so much respect for you. You're the best there's ever been, man, I love you. You think that decided the football game. Sean McVan, Bill Belichick, looked at tape, and I'm guessing here, for 35 to 45 hours. But you think that 12 seconds determine the game. That's what Ray Lewis, love him, but here's what he said on showtime last night.

Games already lost. I mean, hold on, guys. This is not preseason. You get into a chance. championship game, your mentality of your leader dictates what your troops do. Even if I think it, I'm not sharing it right there. I can't share it right here. Even if I think it, I'm going to let him, because I got to let my guys know. They heal and they believe. Stop, Ray, stop. Football games are not decided by 12 seconds before the game.

Ram players didn't even know about that. Now, Ray is a defensive player. Defensive players are very emotional. Their job in a football game is to blow stuff up, knock people over. So defensive players are very much about high emotion. Your arrival. I'm knocking you out. I'm making you hurt.

I'm making you wins. I'm blowing up your plays. That's Ray Lewis. That's how defensive players see games. Offensive players don't. Offensive coaches steal stuff from one another. Offense is about unity. choreography, being unified, being under control, taking the emotion out of it.

Tom Brady doesn't want to be too jacked up, so he's sailing throws. Ray Lewis wants to run through a wall. Defense and offensive guys have a different mentality. I've heard this from GMs for years. Defensive guys, it's almost like you like them having a little screw loose. Lawrence Taylor, sometimes you're like, is that good? guy all there? You want your quarterback to have it all there. This is not why the Rams lost. This is how people who are young and talented and driven and who have had posters on walls

and they've had these huge dreams and then they face Kobe and then they face Muhammad Ali and then they face Tony Larusa and they face Bill Belichick and they meet Vin Scully or Al-Micha or Jim Nance and they come up and they're like, hey man, this is, this is weird, man. I'm going to watch and you're the very best at what you do. Do you want him to trash talk him, ignore him? Yo, sup. Sean McVeigh did what I do, you do, and players and coaches and executives have been doing forever.

Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. I'm a really big believer in this. well-run businesses from the White House to NBA teams to NFL teams to Silicon Valley companies. Well-run businesses don't leak. Okay. When Boogie Cousins ended up with the Warriors, nobody knew about it. Garoppolo to the Niners, nobody knew about it. Randy Moss to the Patriots, nobody knew about it.

Chris Paul Blake Griffin. Chris Paul went to Houston. Darry didn't leak it. Jerry West didn't leak it. Nobody knew it. Not a lot of leaks in well-run companies. And, you know, I will say this now. I think the Lakers are trapped.

Rob Parker came on our show yesterday and said something. I thought it was his best point yesterday. He was kind of getting hysterical about how Tom Brady's awful. But he made this point, and I thought it was a good point. What happens to the teammates that he's, already put out there that he doesn't want. LeBron came in. Magic has no choice.

Magic has no choice. He's stuck with LeBron and now how do you welcome those guys back to finish out this season? You know, just ask yourself in my job today, if there were rumors the last seven days, I was trying to move everybody here, not to compare myself to LeBron, but I was trying to move everybody. Don't you think that everybody would be like talking behind my back going, you know, like us anymore. There'd be a little tension, I think. This

is bad for everybody if the Lakers don't make the move. Think about this. It's bad for the NBA because LeBron and Anthony Davis are more interesting. So it's bad for the NBA. It's a disaster for Luke Walton. It's an impossible team to coach. I mean, you're going to have massive tension in the building. So Luke Walton's done

if this deal doesn't get done. It feels like it's a lost year for LeBron James and Anthony Davis. LeBron's kind of going through the motions with young guys he's not eventually going to be with and Anthony Davis. you know, he's got this franchise that's mad at him. So two great players, and it's a wasted year. I don't think it's great for clutch sports.

It looks like, oh, you guys couldn't pull off the deal. I think the season as a whole is a mess. I don't think, I think the Lakers are trapped. I think if you don't make this deal, you might as well just start writing up your Luke Walton's done. You can't coach this team. You just can't coach this team. And, I mean, again,

every player, I don't blame Lonzo Ball. This is also going to open up the door for LeVar Ball to start talking. Because LeVar, if this deal doesn't get done, LeVar is going to say, I told you this organization doesn't know what they're doing, and he's going to look like he's right. He already took a shot at Luke Walton. If this deal doesn't get done, then LeVar Ball gets empowered. He can literally go on shows like this or other shows and go,

I told you, they don't know what they're doing. And we're all sitting there going, yeah, he's got a point. They don't know exactly what they're doing. So this situation now, one of the reasons I don't like to make guarantees. Like the only guarantee that's ever worked in help business was Domino's years ago, guaranteeing they'd get you the pizza there in 30 minutes or less. That worked. That was good for their business.

But even they eventually moved off it. They eventually said, we've got to stop guaranteeing stuff because now, you know, we show up one minute late. We look like jerks. And if we show up two minutes early, everybody's like, well, so what? You already guaranteed it. I don't like guarantees. and I don't like leaking stuff.

Okay, and one of the reasons is it puts pressure on you. With the Lakers leaking all this stuff, it's now put incredible pressure on them to get it done. And now if you don't get it, that's like Rex Ryan, we're going to win the Super Bowl. Well, now if you don't, you're a schmuck. When you guarantee something, it not only puts pressure on you,

but whatever you accomplish, you don't get as much credit for. Well, you guaranteed it, so you must have known. So I think the Lakers are in a bad situation. If I was Luke Walton, I mean, I would be praying this gets done. Because Luke Walton can save his job if he gets Anthony Davis. Even if they don't win the championship, it's fun.

People are optimistic. The place is sold out. The games are energized. The young players are out of the building. Now he's got to be a psychologist. He's got to be half Dr. Phil, half Oprah, half basketball coach, half agent. I mean, half parent. This is going to be just, this is the most unenest.

enviable coaching job in the world. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. The Rams appear to be unraveling a bit as they lose the Super Bowl. There's a little bit of negativity circling the franchise. And it should be duly noted.

This is what happens. I'm going to give you the last five Super Bowl losers. The Seahawks five years ago didn't give the ball to Marshawn Lynch. That was the tipping point. They were never the same franchise. Panthers lost. Cam Newton following year imploded losing record. Falcons acknowledged that losing and choking away a giant lead affected them the following year.

The Patriots, the best run franchise perhaps an American professional, sports swam in controversy for five months. And the Rams now are getting heat for not explaining Todd Gurley, for not adapting, for not looking prepared. The Super Bowl is so far and away the biggest sporting event in our country. The only thing I can compare it to globally is the World Cup for Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Germany. When you lose it, it is an automatic descent.

and dysfunction creator. The Super Bowl now, with the amplification of social media, and the media in general is just bigger and louder and coming from more directions than ever, you lose the Super Bowl, you take a beating, and you better have a damn strong locker room to overcome it, and I think the Rams have it, and like the Patriots, they will be fine.

And it looks like the Seahawks now will be fine. I don't think Carolina's ever been the same, nor do I think that with Atlanta yet. The big knock is that they didn't run the football. It should be noted the first five drives the Rams had, they ran the ball on first down in five straight drives, and they punted it in five straight drives. They tried to run it.

Now, I would have preferred more than 18 carries. I would have preferred 25 to 28, but it became very clear, very early, and Sean McVeigh talked about this. There was not a lot of room. Todd gets into a little bit of a rhythm or it seemed like when we'd have a good positive run, then something would inevitably occur to set us back. And then when you're not efficient on third downs, we just didn't get a lot of attempts off.

I think when you go five-yard run, we were having efficient runs, but then you have a couple penalties to set yourself back, where now you're at second and ten, and you're not converting on some third down in shorts. So we didn't get the amount of plays off, and didn't really have any drive continuity where we're punting more than we did. And that's a big result of why those opportunities were limited for him. You'll lose a World Cup, if you're a soccer country, and you lose the Super Bowl,

you have to understand you are now in the managing crisis business. The Seahawks are a well-run franchise. They've been able to reboot. Took them about a year, two years. The Patriot to the best run franchise, it took them about six months. months. I think the Rams are very well run. Owner, GM, less need, head coach Sean McVeigh and Goffs, the right kind of quarterback. But this is part and partial. This is now what you deal with losing this game. This is it. We put the microscope on you. We crush you. I did not think it was a

great game for Sean McVeigh, but he's 33. I thought Anthony Lynn had a terrible afternoon for the Chargers. He's older. I did not think it was a great game. day for Bob Sutton, the 60-year-old defensive coordinator or Andy Reid. They're 50-60-year-old guys. So this is just the reality of the situation. Losing Super Bowls, you're going to get clubbed. You're going to get clubbed by every talk show, every newspaper, every blog, and it's how you handle it. And I think the Rams are really smart and they'll handle it fine.

It is interesting. I was, Steve Kerr had a funny bite. We have three dynasties going on here. It's crazy. The Warriors Dynasty, the Alabama Dynasty, and the New York. England dynasty. And it usually doesn't work that way. But we have in the three most popular sports, arguably in

America, NFL, NBA, and college football, we have three dynasties. And Steve Kerr joked about it the other day. It just gets old watching the same team win the whole thing. You're after year. That was really arrogant,

it was kind of fun to say that then. You know, I actually think of the three dynasties. I think most people think the Patriots will be the first because of Brady's age to evaporate. I think the opposite. I think the Alabama dynasty is already fraying because of three factors. Number one, Clemson has emerged as every bit as good or better than Alabama. Secondly, the SEC football powers like Florida, Texas A&M, Georgia now have really, really good coaches.

so they're going to lose more conference games. And I think Golden State, after they win this year again and win easily, egos and recklessness, they just happen. They happen to Kobe Shaq, Michael Jordan retired. This is just the way the NBA works. I think New England's here to last. Belichick's still the best coach. Brady was just the best quarterback in a Super Bowl,

and they have 12 draft picks. I think New England's is going to last for at least three more years. Be sure to catch live at night. of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok

podcast network on TikTok. 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, 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 does. 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 hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app, Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th.

And on my podcast, The Clivert Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff, like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office, Blue, 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's he at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game.

We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson,

we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get to fly. man, he running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court,

and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, it's really interesting. Lakers got blown out by 40 last night. It was LeBron's worst loss, 42. And, you know, LeBron is acknowledging the trade rumors,

but he is sort of distancing himself from the trade rumors. He said this after the loss last night. We have a lot of guys that's been in trade talks the last couple weeks. It has never been in that position before. I know it has to be tough on a lot of our guys, especially for young guys. You know, right

now they've just never been a part of it and you know, they're hearing it every single day. And I know that the worst thing that you can do right now is be on social media. And I know all young guys love social media. So, you know, that definitely can't help.

LeBron is distancing himself from it, which I understand he has to do. But nobody really buys that. What I have noticed here, and I'm just going to be as honest as I can, this will probably offend the LeBron camp, and they watch the show. Okay. There's two fractions working. There's the Laker fraction where they release a press release about LeBron's health, and then Rich Paul, part of Clutch Sports and LeBron's group, come out in hysterics.

Nobody's going to tell us nothing about him, just totally overreacted. And similarly, in this situation, we got the Clutch Sports leaking stuff to build their brand. You got the Lakers leaking stuff to protect their brand. I feel like there's been two LeBron's. And by the way, everybody grows and evolves as human beings. We all grow. And hopefully I'm much different than I was in my 20. But I always feel like there's two LeBrons, and I'm just going to lay this out.

The first LeBron was the LeBron in Cleveland and the first three years in Miami. LeBron was all in on his team. All in. He was all in on Cleveland. He left, but he loved that city, and he loved that team. And it was not an easy decision. And then he went to Miami, and he had to get some championships. And for three years, he was all in.

into that roster. Mario Chalmers drove him crazy, but he was all in on Riley, all in on Mickey, all in. And then there's the second LeBron. The final year in Miami, all the years back in Cleveland, and this year for the Lakers,

that there's the team, and then there's sort of LeBron and his guys. And they're never glued. LeBron's got his mission, his legacy, his ideas, his worldview and then there's the team.

And I feel like that's the LeBron. And again, people adapt. But I really feel like the first LeBron, the seven years in Cleveland and the three years in Miami, I kind of feel like LeBron was all in as a

unit. The last year in Miami, I kind of felt LeBron and then in Cleveland and L.A. It's like there's the team and LeBron's part of the team. And LeBron can say nice stuff and high five, but he's got like a separate mission

and a separate business and a separate empire and a separate group. And right now, I don't think the Lakers are won. LeBron doesn't feel like he's totally committed to the franchise. I heard early that LeBron would refuse to sign basketballs. You know, they'd pass the basketball around the locker room and Kyle Coos Malonzo ball. And initially, LeBronzo was like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

It's like, dude, Tom Brady's a legend. He still signs the footballs. Peyton Manning was a legend in Indianapolis. He still signed the locker room footballs. Like at some point, LeBron, are you in? Kobe Bryant was a Laker. Magic was a Laker. I never felt Shaq was all Laker.

Shaq was, love the Lakers because it's in L.A., but if the Lakers were in Boisey, Cleveland, and wouldn't like him as much. He moved to L.A. He had a movie, and he was popular, and he had side businesses, and even today he's got 100 commercials. Is that at some point, no matter how big you get in life, you're part of a team or you're not. You're either part of a unit or you're not. And somebody's got to hold your feet to the ground.

I don't feel like LeBron's all in on the Lakers. I know he signed for four years. Paper's one thing. Emotions are different. I mean, I feel like the last year in Miami, the last several in Cleveland, and this year with the Lakers, he's part of a team. He's not of the team. You know, there's an old saying about Austin, Texas. It's in Texas.

It's not of Texas. Park City, Utah. Oh, they part of. there. It's in Utah. It's not of Utah. LeBron James is a Laker, but he's not really, really all in of the Lakers. You got to make a decision, got to make a choice, got to commit. Can't be about your empire, can't be about clutch sports, can't be about your guys. But it always felt that way, though. It didn't to me. It didn't in Cleveland to start. No, no, no, I'm saying the move to Los Angeles always felt that way.

It's kind of just continuing that narrative. And at some point, you've got to be one of the guys. Tom Brady goes out of his way to learn new music and new technology to be one of the guys. He goes down, puts his arms around. What do all the young guys say? What's amazing about Brady is that he goes out of his way to connect every day with teammates. He's not worried about his empire. He loves his family, but when he leaves his family, he is,

Tom Brady is of the Patriots. Well, this is going to be the great struggle for the Lakers because the Lakers are a storied franchise with years and years of success and many, many championships and superstars. And LeBron is the type of star that needs control. Okay, let me shift to this. Kevin Durant plans to leave the Warriors this season. Here is a story.

Is this from the athletic? It says here it's about carving out his own legacy. This is Kevin Durant. Steph Curry is of the warriors, clays of the warriors, Draymons of the Warriors, Steve Kerr's all in. Kevin Durant is about,

he's a warrior, but if he's considering leaving this city and this coach and this roster for the New York Knicks, and I got nothing against New York, then he's not really part of the war. Warriors. I'm for mobility. Listen, I like ice cream, not for breakfast. I like wine, not for breakfast. I'm for a lot of things, but I'm not reckless. Kevin Durant leaving the Warriors is

dumb. It's reckless. It's insecurity. It's ego. It's worried about stuff that shouldn't matter. You don't leave cool coach, cool city, tech center, great teammates. You don't have to be the tough guy. You don't have to be the best defender. You don't have to be the leader. You don't Just go score and win final MVP's. I mean, that's reckless mobility. And I am pro mobility. I've been pro-Lebron, pro-KD. I'm pro-moving around.

I've done it. I'm always for NBA players. But again, are you committed to a team? Not just because you have a contract. Are you emotionally committed Kevin Durant to the Warriors? LeBron, are you emotionally connected? You got $500 million. Don't worry about money.

both you guys have nothing but money. Not about much. Tom Brady's not worried about money. He takes pay cuts every year. I don't worry about your empire. Your empire's fine. You know what's going to hurt your empire? If this locker room doesn't like you, LeBron and Kevin Durant, and you teeter off to a bad team or you don't get to the playoffs, LeBron,

that hurts your empire. Stop worrying about every dollar bill. Stop worrying about legacy. Are you part of a family or you're not? I mean, it's got to be more. I mean, I love the NBA, and I'm pro player. but you can't be consumed with legacy, win games, win titles. I mean, if you leave the Warriors, is there any organization,

any organization in any sport in America that is more pro player and pro star player than the Warriors? You're going to leave to go to the Knicks? That's a dumpster fire. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. NFL filmed some 35 years. a guy I lean on to give me the truth about football. Now the NFL season is over.

He's our friend Greg Kosell, and he's joining us. So, you know, there is this kind of, you know, criticism, Greg, of McVeigh. They never ran the football, only 17, 18 times. Then there's the argument he said, which is, you know, first five series. We ran it on first down. There was nothing there. When you looked at it, should they have pounded the ball more? Was there anything open?

What do you make of the Rams lack? of running game. I think you have to look at it from the other side of the ball, Colin, because to me, watching the tape, this was about the Patriots defense and what they did. And what they did on early downs, they had two distinct approaches. They had an early down and normal down and distance approach, and they had a long yardage and third down approach. And on early down and distance, one front, they had six across the line of scrimmage with one stacked backer. The point of that was to take away the Rams foundational staple outside zone run game. Very hard to run outside zone against a six-man front.

So they did that. And then in the secondary, they played what we call cover four or quarters. And they did that because it gets the safeties involved in the run game, if need be. But they're also obviously past offenders in perfect position to take away the play action pass game and all the in-breaking routes that are another staple of the first one. down play action pass game of the Rams. So what Belich early down first is the outside zone run game

and breaking routes. You know, it's, I never thought Jared Goff was quite as comfortable without Cooper Cop. Then you alleviate Todd Gurley and he's a young quarterback that didn't have enough weapons. He looked like his ball, he just wasn't quite tight. When you looked at the films, was Goff

awful? What is he okay? How do you, what do you make of him? Well, I think Jared Goff, and we've talked about this a number of times over the last 7, 8, 9, weeks. He's a very programmed quarterback. The reeds and the throws need to be presented for him. That worked exceptionally well in 2017. It was much of this season. One could argue that losing cup was a major factor in things changing, but over the last part of the season, even through the playoffs, it was not presented as clearly to him. Defense has probably started to get

a better read on McVeigh's offense. And at this point, his career, and it will be a learning curve for Goff, he needs to become better as a late in the down pocket player where he can go through reeds and progressions when the primary is not defined clearly. I thought one of the things the Rams did a good job of, a real staple for New England is throwing to running backs. James White was a non-factor. They made it very difficult. Now, conversely, Edelman was not only open, he was often wide open. Why did Edelman have so much success. It appeared, Greg. He was uncoverable. I mean, opened by three, four, five yards often. Again, zone, you can be open because you can find voids. Against man, he ran some great, great routes,

both from the outside and from inside, and he has such tremendous body control. I mean, I don't think anybody is as good to release and create separation, and he's just a master at that. Yeah, no, we're, you know, we're watching some highlights here. Was it as big a coaching mismatch, as everybody said? It looked like one team adapted late. One team did not. Did it feel like to you, if I would not have told you who was in the game and who the coaches were? Would you have said, you know, the team wearing white really adapted well and appeared well coached,

and the team in the blue did not? Belichick did was absolutely, I thought what he did was brilliant. Yet you can look at individual plays that if they were made, we might be looking at a different conversation. Right. I mean, that play was wide open in the end zone was actually a really interesting play because that was very sort of representative of what happened in the game because the Patriots disguised their coverage. They started out in what was cover three, and it was play action and Goff was late to recognize the change and what his read was, and therefore he was late throwing the ball to Cooks because the Patriots actually busted the coverage. And the other thing that struck me on that throw, and it was something I spoke about when he came out of Cal. is I thought that ball hung.

That ball lost a lot of energy on the back end, and he was clean in the pocket. Jason McCordy obviously made a great play, but he should never have been a factor in the play. I want to go to your big play. This is Brady to Gronk, and lay it out for our audience. Well, this was that touchdown drive, and what they did really, really well on that drive, was they went with what we call 22 personnel, something they had not done very much in the game, two backs, two tight ends, and they went empty. and they did that on three consecutive plays, and the Grontowski play was the third of the three plays.

So we're going to start with that play, arguably the biggest play in the game, getting them down and scoring Kowski on the seam route down inside the five-yard line. This play started with Edelman in motion across the formation, something they do a lot, a lot of motion with Edelman. But they ran basically, and what they did is they took Edelman from inside, and he ran kind of a juke route or a jerk route. So he was the inside route here. He ran a hitch route on Kowski just inside of Burkhead, and he ran a seam route. So they did this three plays in a row, and actually Brady hit Edelman on the first play, Burkhead on the second play, and now Gronk. But here, the Rams got a little confused.

Littleton was late to get to his assignment of Grankowski, and Brady was able to make a great throw. But this was an adjustment they clearly made in the fourth quarter for this drive, where they went to 22 personnel, two backs, two tight ends, out of empty, and they went three consecutive plays with the same route concept. By the way, most people thought the game was boring. When you looked at film, were you fascinated by elements of it? Fascinated by the defense on both sides.

I thought Wade Phillips did in our coverage as well. Brady was not really pressured, but Brady struggled at times to quickly decipher what he was seeing, and that got him stuck in the pocket. So I thought Wade Phillips did an outstanding job as well. For someone like me, Colin, watching the tape of this game, and I spent about eight hours yesterday watching both sides of the ball. You know, see, Greg Cole and I liked the game. I thought it was really enjoyable.

You and I both did. Greg, it's great talking to you again. Colin, I appreciate it. Thank you. What are the wise guys where? I get asked that from time to time. The answer is the new gear from theherdnow.com merchandise store. We are now officially open for business.

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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. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

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Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments.

If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come in to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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