The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Duke let that one get away

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

Jason McIntyre fills in for Colin to react to Duke's shocking collapse to Houston in the final minutes of the Final Four He believes LeBron James and the Lakers look like top contenders in the West after their win over the Thunder Jimmy Butler says Steph doesn’t get any calls    Guest: John FantaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas.

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Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast for no-nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris.

She can win. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any service. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on.

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Find your local station for the herd at Fox SportsRedio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR. You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Welcome into the herd. Happy Monday. It's me, Jason McIntyre, in for Colin Cowherd, who is fishing in parts unknown. I will not give away his location. But if you follow him online, you've seen the fishing video that's hysterical. Enjoyed today by Alex Curry.

Alex, how are you? We're back, Jay Mack. It's been a minute. But, you know, what a fun weekend to come back. Like, it was, I know you were doing like, own sports stuff. But can we just like yesterday was like such an incredible TV day for sports. You got to have breakfast with baseball, lunch with the NCAA women's championship. Yukon just like absolute domination. And then you had dinner with, are you a White Lotus fan?

Listen, no spoilers. I'm not spoiling. I'm not spoiling, but it was just like. It was amazing. Okay. Yeah, I was in Salt Lake City over the weekend. Alex and her Dodger blue. Dodgers had a rough weekend. We'll talk about that. I was in Salt Lake City. You'd sports. A lot of fun. Salt Lake City is a beautiful town. I'd never been. But I was asked this past weekend, Jason, what's the scariest movie you've ever seen? I said, well, that's easy. The final eight minutes of Duke against Houston. Because Saturday night, folks, I was a wreck, a total train wreck, which is what the Duke offense was down the stretch. Folks, listen, we're going to talk a Vetchkin. We're going to talk Lakers, but we have to open with the devastating Duke loss

over the weekend at the Final Four. Duke, in total control, of Houston and just blows it down the stretch in unforgettable fashion. One of those games where you just left scratching your head, I'm at a bar with some dads watching it. And I could tell things we're not trending well. Even though Duke was up 14 with like eight minutes left. They got Cooper Flagg, the best freshman on the planet. And yes, I will be glazing Cooper Flag later, despite all the hate we're seeing online.

I asked for the check from the bartender. I was like, I got to get out of here. I don't know. This does not look good. And folks, Houston shocks Duke. And I mean, stuns them. shouldn't be that much of a surprise to some of us. Because like all college basketball season,

what have we talked about? It's the veteran teams using the transfer portal to bring 22, 23, 24-year-olds onto the court. And those are the teams that have thrived, but not Duke. Duke rode three freshmen in the starting lineup all the way to the final four,

and their youth showed folks on Saturday night. Now, Fox Sports asked me to do a mock draft, and I did one, and I had three Duke freshmen in the top 20. They've got a great team. But what did we see win Saturday night? The veterans, the KG Houston veterans, they lean on 23-year-old L.J. Cryer who had just an unbelievable six-point play during that comeback.

Who did they lean on a 23-year-old Roberts, who hits two clutch free throws? And the Duke youth showed, folks, I'm sure you've seen the numbers of the meltdown. It was, oh my gosh, we're up nine with three minutes left. We're good. Cooper Flag hit that three from the baseline. and I'm going crazy. Jay's like, we're going to the title game. And then it just fell apart. The youth show, look, they can't inbound the basketball.

Folks, you guys remember the greatest singular play of the NCAA tournament so far was Houston Purdue 2.8 seconds left. And Kelvin Sampson, the veteran older coach, dows up an amazing play. They get the dunk, and Houston prevails over Purdue. Fast forward to the final four Saturday night. Young coach, John Shire, and we'll get to John Shire in a moment, because if you want to blame anybody, you can blame him.

He couldn't inbound the basketball. It was painful to watch anybody who's coached basketball at any level or played basketball. You know, inbound, hey, you got some stuff dialed up. You know, even now they're going with a football play where you just have four players running down the court. Duke had nothing. It was painful to watch. Here's Kelvin Samson, the great Houston coach talking about culture and veterans in the victory. There's something to be said about having a culture.

that's based on how you win. You know, there's some nights when the ball goes in and teams don't have defensive players like Duke does or don't have defensive players like this team does or that team does. But our team is, they think they're going to win every game they play. You know, irregardless of what other people think or say, they think they're going to win. Yeah, listen, Kelvin Samson with a master class down the stretch, never quitting.

Now, I do, listen, you never want to crush anybody when they're young. And John Shire, aka White Mike. Yes, that was his nickname in high school because he was in Chicago, and he was honestly getting buckets like Michael Jordan. Shire just had a brutal season, and our staff dug up an incredible sad I had not seen all weekend until this morning. So in close games this season, Duke was one in three. Close games are five points or less.

They were one and three. Folks, Duke lost four games all season. So in the close games, they kind of sort of melted. Now, some of that is due to three, freshman. been in the starting lineup. I watch college basketball all season, unlike some people, and I remember in November, they gave it to Flag down the stretch. So I think at the time he was still technically 17, and Flag kind of struggled against Kansas, couldn't get the bucket, and they lose. But since John Shire took over in 2022, in games five points or less, John Shire just

11 and 12. Now, I know what you're going to say, Jay, you crush Lamar Jackson. Why can't you crush John Shire? And listen, if you want to blame somebody, you got to blame Shire. And I don't want to nitpick, but Sion James, number 14 on Duke, good player. He hit his head on the hardwood. It looked brutal. He goes down and you're like, oh, that guy's definitely concussed. You got to get him out. He barely sits out. And what happens a couple minutes later? Dribbling baseline, dribbles it off his leg out of bounds, turnover. And then Shire had him inbounding the ball. And he looked so rattled. Like he didn't know what to do. And it was just like Shire, some situational awareness, please. Now, I know there's a segment of Houston fans out there upset that I have not really talked about the Cougars.

I've been focusing on Duke, and that's because Duke lost the game. Houston didn't win it. That's really what happened. And we'll get to Houston because they play Florida tonight. A little preface, I'm on Florida. I like the Gators tonight. It's going to be a great game. Houston, obviously a tough team, but folks, when you take down Duke and then you've got to go

play two nights later, you've just slayed the dragon. I think there will be a little bit of a letdown. And I will close out on this note because I know that people want, Jason, you got a bag on Cooper Flag. Why is he fading away like Anthony Davis? Let me just remind you guys. Coach K had R.J. Barrett and Zion Williams. Okay, two top five picks just a few years ago. And they lose in the elite eight to Michigan State.

Okay. So it happens. These young guys struggle in March. Barrett and Zion were freshmen. Cooper Flagg, Knapple. By the way, where was Kinepple in the second half? They were young. They vanished.

Congrats to Houston. now let's get to a positive basketball story from the weekend. And you know, I got to talk about the L.A. Lakers. Oh, my gosh. So I was at Lakers Warriors Thursday, and it was a bit of a funeral at the crypt. It felt sad. The Lakers just looked out of sorts. Luca had his worst game with the Lakers Thursday night.

And all of a sudden, it's like, oh, here come to the Warriors. We'll get to the Warriors. Had the Lakers bounce back. They beat the Pelicans Friday. Nobody cares. Irrelevant game. So Sunday, they go to OKC, mighty OKC, everybody's favorite. They got the MVP.

You're going to win like 65, 68 games. And what did the Lakers do? If you guys were watching, if you switched over when Yukon started destroying South Carolina, you watch the Lakers, they put on a clinic. And I know everybody loves to talk about Lute Dort in the Dortcher Chamber. Well, he tried to guard Luca yesterday, and Luca was getting basically a deep tissue massage at a day spa. He roasted Lou Dort. Chet Holmgren had no chance.

Look at that. Step back three over the seven-footer. Plot out. I mean, folks, the Lakers had one of the great three-point shooting days in franchise history. I think they tied a franchise record for threes. At one point in the first half, they were 12 of 15. But why was that happening?

Because Luca Donchich owns the OKC thunder. He does. I'm sorry. I hate to admit it. But Luca, with Dallas last year, extinguished OKC. It was a masterful series for Luca. and he did the same yesterday. They tried the hard doubles.

Luca made the right pass. They tried the big guys. Step back three just in their face. Lou Dort one-on-one. I know. Hey, Coward's buddy Bill Simmons is like, Lou Dort, defensive player of the year. You show that Lakers tape?

He didn't do a damn thing. He could not stop Luca. Now, few can, but I don't want to hear about OKC going, what is that, like 22 and one against the East? Who cares? Show me what he's doing against Luca. And again, in these highlights, you put anybody on Luca Don.

and it was game over. Now, at some point, we're going to have to talk about SGA. I don't, again, I don't want to be in the business of Monday morning, filling in for coward and I'm out here,

hammering players. Okay? But folks, a year ago, I saw one of these AI internet videos where somebody had sliced like,

you know, fake voice over Anthony Edwards talking about OKC. And in the video, they were like, yeah, free throw merchant SGA. And I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen.

So I started using it on the show. Cowherd loved it. He laughed, and it became a running thing. I would say it all the time. Now, I'm not saying I started free throw merchant, but it's out there now when everybody calls SGA a free throw merchant. Well, J.J. Reddick, who is a young coach with the Lakers, made it a point we're not letting SGA get to the free throw line, okay? For the first time in three years, the presumptive MVP, I would give it to Yokic, but that's just me. The presumptive MVP, SGA, did not shoot a free throw. And here's the best part. You had to be watching closely. So at one point, SGA takes Luca baseline and does that fadeaway thing where he kicks his leg out

and the ref blows the whistle. And then Luca's like, no, no, no, replay, replay. Begging JJ Reddick. Reddick's like, all right, we'll replay it. What does the replay show? SGA was not touched. He stuck his leg out and drew the foul. Luca dauntage of victory. And I know it's a small point, and it's one data point in a huge game and a big season. But that's that. That proved to me that SGA is the kind of guy who gets all the calls. And if you watch closely, he kept driving all game long, and he would miss his shot. I think he was like 12 of 25. He would miss his shot and look to the rest.

Where's the whistle? What's going on? He got no free throw attempts. The Lakers sent a message. And I know everybody's, Jay, who cares about this game? Okay. Fair enough. If you want to say it doesn't matter, it doesn't count, that's fine.

here's the reality. The Lakers want to avoid the play in. They've almost done that. They needed a split against OKC. They match up again tonight. They needed a split. Now, the Lakers got their victory. They were probably out celebrating.

I wouldn't be shocked if we saw, like, the Lakers backups play or a lot of minutes for Brony and, you know, the end of the bench guys. Maybe they get a lot of effort tonight. Lakers sent notice to OKC. Hey, guys, we're not afraid to you. Now, some of us have been saying that for months. OKC, really, really good.

regular season team. But I don't know if they can do it in the playoffs. Folks, we've seen James Hardin dominate a regular season. They have to change rules so that James Hardin couldn't do that pull through and keep getting to the line. And what would happen every postseason? Inevitably, there would be a James Hardin meltdown game where he couldn't get to the line, wasn't getting the whistle, it got in his head.

I saw that from OKC yesterday. This is a really good regular season team. I don't know if they can do it. in the playoffs. And that's why I like the Lakers, who everything went in their favor yesterday. The Warriors lose. We'll do them soon. The Nuggets lose. Lakers win. Lakers headed for the three seed.

Headed for the Western Conference Finals. Sorry, Houston. I hate to do it. And it's just going to be a glorious postseason run for L.A. Here we got the standings on the screen. If the Lakers get the three, they would well, hopefully not face the Warriors in the first round. Hopefully it would be Minnesota, anybody

with the Warriors. And then it's Houston. And then they're on to the conference finals. a great, great Sunday for the Lakers, Alex. I don't want to get too excited, but listen, it's Monday, it's the Lakers. It was a great win. I like that we get excited because there's so many doubters on the Lakers. And I like to remind people, this is a Lakers team that has one of the greatest players of all time in LeBron James. With more experience than anybody on that court.

And then you have the future of the NBA in Luca Donchich and Austin Reeves. Like they have a power three. And everyone was like, ah, whatever, like washed. No, they're not. LeBron is not. He is one of the best players on that court. If not the best, especially late in the game. Fear the Lakers, because if you're facing them in a series in the playoffs, they are the team to be.

I'm so glad you mentioned LeBron. I have it in my notes. I didn't even mention it. LeBron didn't attempt a free throw yesterday. He didn't even have to attack the basket at all. That's beautiful for him, though. So he could be rested and play a lot tonight. Folks, LeBron, I did look this up.

It's only the second time this season. He did not attempt a free throw. The other was in a blowout over the spurs. So LeBron not driving. He's rested. Folks, Lakers are dangerous, Alex. They're coming up next here on the herd. Folks, the Golden State Warriors picked up a few awesome wins last week.

Everybody excited. I was starting to fall victim. And then last night, at home against Houston. Uh-oh, wait. Steph Curry did what? It went that badly? We'll talk about that next year on the herd. 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.

Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news, news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey, Jonas, guys. I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking, I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers

was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for

remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement home. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinch and win.

I mean, she went down in three to. Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerner Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Back here on the herd, Jason McIntyre in for Colin Cowherd, who's turned into a fisherman this week, apparently. Hopefully he doesn't have to deal with any whales out there in the ocean.

Let's go to my favorite player for the last decade in sports. My favorite athlete, Steph Curry. Folks, so I think I fell in love with him at Davidson when he was a young player and led that amazing run by the Wildcats to the elite eight. And I followed his career with the Warriors. And it just so happened, I was lucky enough that he was at, my gym in like 2021 because I work out at the old Clippers facility. And he's training there after getting surgery on his hand. And I just rolled up, you know, I'm playing basketball, lifting or

whatever. And I see Steph Curry walk by with like, you know, a couple of his people as trainers. And of course, all the parents are stare, everybody's staring at Curry. You know, J Max, undaunted. I just roll right up. I was like, Steph, hey, you wrote my podcast like five years ago. What's up, bro? And we start talking. I get a picture with him. That's like the only athlete that I would actually try to get a picture with, maybe LeBron. And I'm just like the biggest Curry fanboy. So I was torn last week when I went to Lakers Warriors. You know, obviously I'm a Lakers fan.

I wore a Luka T-shirt, but I have a Curry jersey. I'm a Curry fan boy. And last week, Curry was just unbelievable, incendiary stuff. Drop 52 on Memphis in Memphis. Then went to the Lakers and had 37. The next night had 36 in Denver. And everybody at that point is like, okay, Warriors are, are set. They're the second best

team in the West. And they did look hell of good. Three straight row wins. Very impressive. And then yesterday they went home to face the Houston Rockets. And everybody's like, okay, they got this. Warriors could get the three seed, maybe the two. In one of the great defensive performances of the

season, the Houston Rockets held Steph Curry to one of ten shooting, one of eight from deep, three points. Folks, it was a master class defensively. And we got a member of the staff here who's a big Houston fanboy. And he's like, they were throwing the kitchen sink at him.

You know, the blitzing the doubles. He come over half court and they're swarming. They just refused to give Curry anything. It was a pretty great defensive showing. Okay? Amman Thompson's awesome. It wasn't all him. It wasn't that Goon, Dylan Brooks.

It was just a total defensive effort. However, if you watch closely, a lot of arguing with the Warriors, they were unhappy with the calls. Drayman got into it with Shengun because that's what he does, a European big white guy, Draymond loves to act off and get an elbow in the face. Okay, that's what he does. Don't yell at me.

So after the game, Jimmy Butler met the media, and he was incensed at the way the refs handled Steph Curry. I've never seen an individual get foul more than he gets filed. To me, I think that's astounding. But, you know, it's crazy to say, but he's used to it. You know, it's been happening to him his whole career.

And he's found the way through it, around it, under it, whatever you want to call it. I'm pretty sure it's been happening for 16th straight years. I get to see it, and it really angers me that he's on my team, and he gets hacked like that. Now, that's interesting because Steph made 13 of 14 free throws against the Lakers Thursday. Zero for zero. What a day, right? LeBron doesn't attempt a free throw, and Curry doesn't go to the line, which is crazy. So I started thinking about this.

And you guys. know that there is this Arab issue in the NBA. The old guys think, oh, these young guys, they can't play in our era with the hand-check rules and the toughness. This nonsense. We'll get to it a little later, saving it for later. But it's interesting because if you guys, you know, the older generation, remember, there was a book called The Jordan Rules by the great Sam Smith, and it talks about how the

pistons roughed up Michael Jordan. It's undeniable. They just clogged the lane. And anytime Jordan would come in there, boom. Mahorn, Rodman, Lambier, they would all jack him up. And famously, there's video out there of Jordan saying, I wasn't strong enough. I had to go in the gym.

And then, of course, they cut to a gym video of Michael lifting weights, had to get stronger. This is more Jordan haciography, where they're just creating a narrative that is kind of like a half-truth. Yes, the Jordan rules existed. Yes, the pistons roughed up Jordan. But it wasn't about him weightlifting to get better. It was more about the pistons getting old.

They went to the finals three years in a row. They broke down. And that's when the Bulls finally swept him. It wasn't Michael Jordan getting stronger. It was Phil's triangle offense. Phil and Tex Winter, sorry, triangle offense working. It wasn't just Michael Jordan getting tougher. This isn't about Steph Curry not being tough enough to hang with the physicality of the Rockets.

And by the way, Curry and IMA Udoka, the Rockets Coast exchanged some words. Curry won a foul calls. Udoca was basically like, shut the hell up, stop whining. and of course Curry is not going to take that, especially in his home arena. And I don't think it's a toughness thing. I don't think there's a blueprint for how to stop Steph Curry. We know this. He's a greatest shooter in NBA history.

We know this. When he's running off seven screens on one possession, and that kind of thing happens, it's going to free up Podzensky and Coominga and these other guys for threes. Guess what? They didn't make their shots yesterday. Against the Lakers, Pods was eight of ten from three. He can't duplicate that in the playoffs. He's not doing that. Eight of ten was a one-off.

You know, Kuminga had a great game. What happened to him yesterday? Ghost, invisible. Curry is awesome when he scores. The Warriors are not good when Curry doesn't lead them in points. And it's like, I like Jimmy Butler a lot. I'm a huge fan. He's not looking like the offensive guy he used to be. Now, he could be saving it for the playoffs.

I think the Warriors are going to be fine, but I'm not buying the height that they're the second best team in the West. that would be the Los Angeles Lakers, the biggest threat to the OKC Thunder. Let's go to Alex Curry with the news. No, no, no, no, turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Jay Mack, there's a new all-time goal scorer in the NHL. Alex Ovechkin scored his 895th goal on Sunday against Islanders,

the former record holder. Wayne Gretzky, the great one, was in attendance, and they stopped the game in New York, and everybody celebrated his accomplishment on the eyes. It was great. They kind of, they rolled out a carpet onto the ice and Wayne Gretzky gave Ovechkin his flowers. He's been following him around kind of the last month waiting for this moment to happen. And I don't know if you saw it, but Ovechkin had a chance to beat it in the last game, but he

didn't want to because it was on an empty net and he said he wanted to earn the final goal in order to break Gretzky's goal. But this is insane. Gretzky, like, broke that record in 94 and scored his last goal. goal in 99. So the great one, number 99, scored his last goal in 99. And it has been decades since anybody has ever gotten close to doing this. What do you think is the next, like, biggest record? I think that's really awesome. Alex, at the risk of teasing a segment later, I think it's awesome that the NHL was totally wrapping its arms around this for about a month.

Yes. Hockey's had two huge stories this year. That old star game thing, the Nations Cup. That was huge. Other leagues take notice. Yeah. Because that was incredible. And this, hopefully, hopefully other leagues take notice of a positive story and embrace in a positive manner, a successful star of this generation, surpassing a Wayne Gretzky accomplishment. I don't think anybody's saying, oh, that gets better than Gretzky. I don't.

No, no, no, no. Nobody's saying that. It's different, right? It's, again, different generation. This is going to go back to the Jordan and LeBron. It's kind of just who you believe was great for you at that time. And I just love how supportive. Yes.

And into it when Gretzky was, because he was following around the Capitals in Ovechkin the last month just in case he was going to break this record. But it was beautiful. His wife gave Ovechkin's wife a gift. I think he told the Capitals like, I think he got a Rolls Royce when he broke the record. So he's like, step up your game. you better get him a good gift. So yeah, congratulations to Ovechkin. An insane accomplishment and just so incredible to be able to see such a superstar play this long.

Like I love when we get to experience greatness, which is beautiful. Okay. Moving to baseball and the Dodgers. They lost two of three games in Philly over the weekend. But Philly superstar Bryce Harper had a message for anybody who doesn't like how L.A. is doing business. I don't know if people like this, but I feel like only losers can. playing about what they're doing. You know, I think they're a great team. They're a great organization. That's why guys want to go there and play. L.A. is a great city to play in, obviously.

It's, you know, they're at the mecca of kind of the world of everything, right? From food to nightlife to sports, from the, you know, to Dodgers to the Lakers to anybody. They're going to continue to get guys. They're going to continue to pull guys from, you know, the sport. And if that's bullpen, starting pitching, international players, anything like that. I think this was the most incredible response that you can have to anybody complaining about a winning team. Only losers complain about what they're doing because he's right. Like the Dodgers aren't doing anything illegal. They figured out a way to beat the system.

So what you should be doing is you should be watching and learning or look in the mirror. Look at your ownership. Why aren't they doing something? Why aren't they pulling out the checkbook? The Dodgers are doing it right. They're making it a place where superstars want to come play. They're paying the team and they're making that money back with merch and the fans coming to the games and the sponsorships. Like, it's like, hats off to Bryce because I think that can go for like anything you're complaining about in sports.

Like, get over it. I kind of got to. So, you know, I have like a journalism background. Yeah. I wrote for newspapers and magazines. Alice, I got to ask, who are these losers that are complaining? Is this like online stuff or is it other teams players? Are they out there?

It's, it's fan bases. It's teams. It's players. It's people who aren't putting together a winning team. Saying they cheated. They're doing all this deferred money. How are they able to go and buy all these players? Excuse me.

Do you not remember the Yankees for decades doing this? This is what baseball is. You can go out and you can pay guys a ton of money. So don't get mad at the Dodgers for doing whatever it takes to win. Get mad at your ownership? Or would you prefer a salary cap like basketball and football? No. It's not the way the game is.

Like, baseball players get guaranteed money, no matter what, and there's not really a salary. You play a luxury tax, but there's not like... Basketball has guaranteed salaries, too, but they have a cap. Like, the Lakers can't go over the cap, whereas New Orleans also has the cap and they don't want to go. So they're on, like, the same playing field. Do you think, like, the Pirates or the Dodgers should have a cap, just like the Yankees League-wide? It's never been that way. So you can't, unless, like, the league does something to change it, it's always been this way.

So stop complaining. No, no, it's just part of the game. There's always been powerhouses. But the thing with baseball, unlike other team sports, baseball is an individual sport played in a team atmosphere. So you can pay all the guys, and you still might not be the best team out there. You still can't win because if a pitcher has a bad game

or it's guys aren't seeing the ball well at the plate. Like it doesn't guarantee that you're going to win opposed to like basketball and football, where you rely on each other. Like baseball, it's a very individual sport. Picture versus batter, yeah. Yeah. So it's, I just like, hats off to Bryce about this.

It was just such a Philly response, and I loved it so much. Okay. Final story. The Knicks have been doing okay since Jalen Brunson turned his ankle nearly a month ago, going nine and six without their point. Right. Now, Brunson returned to the lineup yesterday as the Knicks beat the Sons, and Brunson had 15 points and six assists in his return.

This is, yeah, we're coming down the stretch here. Jamack. How much better are the Knicks chances in the East with a healthy Brunson back in the lineup, right? It's a night and day. Definitely need him. You need them to get to the conference finals. It's going to be tough for my Knicks. I know I said I'm a Lakers, but I'm born in New York. They're currently in third. You got four games left. Two of those, you got Celtics, Pistons, Cavs. Knicks are 0 and 6 against Boston and calves this year. The problem is they have to face the Celtics in the second round. round. And that's like mission impossible. It is.

I don't know what, I mean, they had, like you said, they haven't beaten the Cavs or the Knicks this year. They haven't beaten Boston or the Cavs this year. Oh, and six. I'm sorry, Cavs or South's. Yeah. And three, they're, they're, they're, four games left, three of those games against playoff teams, Celtics, Pistons, Cavs.

I don't even know if I trust Tibido, you know, to cook up something to beat the Celtics. It's just tough. It's going to be tough because I love this next team. They have a three game lead on the Pacers. So they're like steady in that. But they have to win if they want to hold on to that third spot. Listen, we got to pace ourselves this week.

So with that Knicks win, I think the Sons were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. And Kevin Durant, obviously, ain't going to be playing for the Sons next year. That's, like, pretty well documented. He didn't like that they tried to trade him. So I just wonder if there's an early Knicks flame out, do they then look, hey, we need to level up. They got to either get rid of the coach or add Kevin Durant. I don't know. They're going to need something.

Oh, yeah. I mean, look, if it didn't work, again, look at the mirror, look at the mirror and figure out what you need to do to get better. Okay, so cabs, hold on. The cabs last year bounced in the first round. Everybody's like, oh, my, I think they got bouncing. But they're young with so much talent. Like, there's potential there.

No, I'm sorry. Cabs got by, they got out of the first round barely against Orlando and then lost badly to the Celtics. But it's like, oh, should we run it back? Donovan Mitchell trade. And now the cabs look awesome. They're the number one seat. So maybe you need another.

year to bake for the next? Yeah, you could. But again, is that a risk you're willing to take? Or do you add another superstar to the mix right away who you know can be a difference maker? I'm a patient guy, Alex. I mean, you have to be with your teens. Are you patient or impatient? Let me adjust. In traffic, I'm impatient. No, traffic I'm so patient. I grew up in L.A. It's just, it is what it is. Like, so if it rains, you're doing 35 on the highway like most other people. If it, no. No, no, I am an incredible. I feel like I could be like secretly a great race. car driver. Oh.

Like, that's like a weird secret thing I have. I am a professional driver. I am great. You would do well in New York. I love driving in New York. All right, Alex Curry with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Lye News. So who's got the edge tonight? Houston and Kelvin Samson? Or the Florida Gators? You know who I'm back in. We'll talk to John Fanta the great college basketball announcer next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd. Weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m.

Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and, of course, the I Heart Radio app. Why should you listen to Kavino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss.

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on Fox Sports Radio on the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcast and of course on social media. That's Kavino and Rich. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, man? news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just

contributed to a first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how did we, how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this.

We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it.

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.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jenchian win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lina Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world.

right now and I actually can win on any surface because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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 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 I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. McIntyre in for Colin Cowherd. Oh boy, Houston, Florida tonight in the Natty. Very excited. Florida opened up as a favorite.

Looks like money coming in on Houston to break it all down. We got the great John Fanta Fox Sports College Basketball reporter. Host, he announces games. He's got a podcast. He's blowing up on social. John, how's it going this morning? J-Mack, it is great to be with you. Look, a national title in the balance.

And this all-time final four that you and I talked about, we said, well, to be all-time, it's gotten deliver the goods. Well, that Saturday night is how you deliver the goods. big time stuff in both games. I was in the elevator with two people who have attended the last 35 of these. And they both said, that's the wildest Saturday night in the final four I've ever had. I have to agree. That was crazy, man. So it's interesting. Both of the teams that won, John, they were trailing at half, and they both looked to be in trouble. Houston was like, I felt they were dead. Duke's got him. And then Florida couldn't stop broom inside, but the second half,

man, things changed. So we got two veteran teams, but one veteran coach. And another, kind of newbie and golden. I think that that's what's interesting about tonight. Houston's never won the national championship. And you think Fy Slamma Jama and all of those great players from Hakeem to Clyde Drexler and those legendary teams, they never were able to cut down the nets. Now they ran into Patrick Ewing back in 84. So for Houston, Kelvin Samson's been working at this.

This program's 160 and 23 in their last 183 games. It would be an amazing story for him to accomplish this. The job that he has done with this program, when he took over, nobody was at these games. We're talking, you can count the people in the stands. They've built a beautiful building in the Furtina Center. They make the move from the American to the Big 12. How, J-Mack, has Houston come into the Big 12 and dominating the league back-to-back years, only losing one time in league play this year.

This is a remarkable rise of a titan in college basketball. That's not a Blue Blood brand, but has had a Villanova-like renaissance under Jay Wright. That's what Kelvin has delivered with the Houston Cougars. So we'll get to Duke at a minute in their meltdown, but I do want to quickly ask about the Florida gators who seem to be getting the short drift in all this because of the Houston comeback and the Kelvin Sanson story.

I'm just saying I think Walter Clayton, The Young Guard, who was a no-star recruit, starts at Iona, then lands at Florida. And now he just had, from what I saw was like the greatest scoring output in the final four wins since like 1981. I think he had 34 points. He looks like Kemba Walk out there. He looks up to Kemba Walker. He told us this past week that he has watched a ton of Kemba Walker's run with Connecticut

back in 2011 when the Huskies won 11 consecutive games, Biggie's tournament, the national championship. Well, Clayton led Florida to the SEC tournament title. Jemak, you and I know how good the SEC was, and Clayton was absolutely outstanding. And now this guy is a tough shot taker and even tougher shot in Naker. You cannot just send one at him. And that's the dilemma for Houston.

It is only fitting that the best defensive team in this sport now has to find a way to craft the code of the hero of this tournament. He has put the cape on. He's been brilliant. And to your point, the nugget of all. muggins that makes you want to watch tonight, America. We have not seen a player in the NCAA tournament, in the elite eight or later, have back-to-back 30-plus point games since Larry Bird in 1979.

Enough said. Clayton has been that man. So you talked a little bit about Houston strategy. I don't know if it's going to work. If they double Clayton hard and they want to do the double in the traps, Florida's one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country. I think 17th. They're going to, their guys can make them.

Martin is a stud. He's been to the final four. I like their bigs, picking pop guys. I'm on Florida here. I don't, will Houston change his stripes or just stick with what got them there? Well, I think they're going to stick with what got them there because they're going to send doubles. They're going to try to blitz on ball screens. They like to create chaos.

But they have the front line that could stay with any opposing front line enough that they don't get paid in terms of easy, they don't give up easy buckets. But Florida has the pieces to capitalize with some perimeter shooting, to your point. I think this game gets decided on which back court is better offensively at the end of the day. Because if they do try to frazzle Clayton with their defense, which they're going to, they're going to apply ball pressure, they're going to swarm the ball, they're going to make him work. Will Elijah Martin and Will Richard be able to cash in? Conversely, if you're Florida, you want to send coverage hard at L.J. Cryer. You cannot let L.J. Cryer get cooking early. He's coming off a 20 plus point performance. He was brilliant.

Milo Shuzan and Emmanuel Sharp did not shoot the ball well on Saturday night. Sharp made a couple of huge shots, including the biggest one of the game I felt when he cut the lead from six to three. but if you are Houston, the reason why you're different this year is you have had a three-headed monster in your back court that can get cooking at any instance. Florida can shut teams down offensively too. Make no mistake about it, Jason.

Florida can defend. And if you didn't think they could, look at the job they did on Jani Broome and to Hydefer, who only made one shot on Saturday night. So Florida's really good defensively. They're top 10 in the country themselves. They're number two in offense. To me, it's a guards game tonight.

Florida does have the best guard on paper, but Houston's got some really difficult shot makers. This is a toss-up for a reason. My pick in my bracket was Florida. So I'm staying committed to my guns here because Clayton has been a man-possessed, and I trust Florida's front line. But could Houston win this game, of course?

Yeah, yeah, certainly. I want to save a few minutes here for Duke and the meltdown. I'm going to start with the obvious. Why didn't John Shire have one friggin' in-bounds play ready for the final minute of the game when Duke melted down? There's no way to explain it. It's one of the all-time classes in the history of the NCAA tournament. For them to be up by 14 points with 8 minutes left. I tweeted it. We're all but done here. It's because we were. Cooper Flatt was having a sensational performance. All of a sudden, in the last five, six minutes.

And Houston's defense has something to do with it. But Duke, how do you turn into hero ball? How? They were not moving the basketball. They were not getting high percentage looks. Only one made field goal in the last 10 minutes of the game. One of the things that we asked heading into this Duke season, Jason, was would they have enough point guard play to get them to the finish line against the elite?

They didn't have point guard play in the late goings on Saturday night. Tyrese Proctor wasn't good enough. Cian James wasn't good enough. And as a result, Concanipple, where did he go? He had a huge first half, disappears in the second half. This is now a part of the definition of John Shire. Now, does it mean that it defines him forever? No, Tony Bennett overcame demons.

Jay Wright, they'll know what people wanted Jay Wright out at one point. Then he became one of the greatest coaches of all time. Dan Hurley and Yukon lost to Teddy Allen three years ago. then he wins back-to-back national championships. This is going to sting with John Shire forever because of how good this team was and they were the favorite. But now it's up to him to respond. You and I both know the next time he's in a big NCAA tournament game, it's going to be the lead question.

It's going to be the lead thing on our minds. They choke this game away. There is no other way to put it. I'm glad you used choke. It is okay to use choke. It's fine. People choke. It happens.

I've choked in sports. You've choked. I'm sure. Anyways, I need to ask this is calling for a conclusion in the courtroom. do you believe Sion James, who hit his head hard on the floor, came back, turned the ball over, and then couldn't inbound it? Do you believe he was possibly concussed in the second half? I did not see headie basketball from him,

and I don't know why he was on the floor. Well, I'm not going to sit here and say that I think he was because of, in today's times, if you're even remotely close, they're sitting you on the bench. These medical staffs are not forcing the issue. and I don't care what it is. Concussions, that's the one thing that all talking with trainers through the years, Jason, that's a very, very sensitive thing that could lead to some legal action if they played him, you know, and that was even in a shadow of a doubt.

I don't think so. I don't think so. I'm sure he was shaken up. We know he was. And he wasn't himself late. But this is nothing new. back in January Houston's down six

at Allen Fieldhouse down six with less than 15 seconds to go in overtime. The game looks over. I stepped away from the game for a second. They bury a three, they get a steal on the inbound, bury another three to send the game

to double overtime. For Houston, that was nothing new on Saturday night. That's what they do. You have to beat them over the course of 40 minutes, and you have to do it on their turn. So they earned that.

But I did feel that Shire, you know, the image Jason is real at the final four. The head coach is up on the court. His staff is down in seats. I just couldn't help but look at him and be like, this is a 37-year-old and we're seeing it right now against a season vet. Because they look lost. They're late. And that's why that inbound scenario, I would have run the football play. I'll pass to somebody else and see who you can get it into.

I think that that's the route that I take. But you and I aren't the coach. John's going to have a long career. I still believe in John Schott. But this one really stings. The inability to get that in when you have Cooper flood, they don't have a single player under 6'5. How do you not get the ball in?

Yeah, just lob it up to Cooper, but not in the middle of the court. Like, well, what was that? Anyways, John Fanta, the great college football reporter, podcast host, TV host. He's everywhere. He's doing everything. John, thanks for crushing a man. Enjoy the game tonight. You're awesome, Jay Mack.

Thanks for having me. All right, John Fanta. Oh, the Duke's loss still hurts. Honestly, I got buddies still texting me. Did that really happen? Now, listen, I didn't watch White Lotus last night, Alex. But I know Duke is upset with the white t-shirt. You can't even find the great t-shirt.

It's gone. I had to, like, take a screenshot from the Internet to add it to a tweet. Yeah. So, uh, tough one for Duke. Hey, they'll bounce back. They got the Brewzer brothers coming next year to Durham. All right, coming up next. Yes, I'm going back to Cooper Flag.

Did his NBA stock take a hit? Next. Hey guys, it's us and the Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what?

We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired

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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. 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get, Your podcasts. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive.

I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French fame. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lennarabakhina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface.

Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline.

And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife-Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.