The Herd with Colin Cowherd - NCAA Tourney, Zion Williamson, NFL contracts, and pass interference

Episode Date: March 29, 2019

Filling in for Colin, Doug Gottlieb breaks down the NCAA Tournament so far, why we are too high on Duke F Zion Williamson, NFL contracts and the new pass interference review rule. Guests include Jeff Goodman, Matt Barnes, and Rob Parker. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I'm Doug Gottlie filling in for Colin Cowherd. Thank you so much. Man, we got a jam-pack show for you. Coming up in 15 minutes, you know the movie in love and basketball? Why love and basketball, love and sports are very very... very much aligned. Little things. The chemistry.

We'll get to that upcoming. I want to start with the Zion hype train. And look, I've been a conductor on this thing. I just have. I love to watch Zion Williamson play. And when the Duke Blue Devils take the floor tonight, I just like everybody else will be watching. Tonight is a, look, it's big boy basketball.

You got the Blue Bloods. Duke. Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State, right? Like four programs synonymous with college excellence, synonymous with great coaching and great players, and you have likable stories across the board. Carolina and their style, PJ Washington, returning, we think, for the Kentucky Wildcats

and all that Kentucky has to offer with John Calipari, Duke with Zion and Coach K. Michigan State, who has a little bit of the little engine that could considering the injuries and the two departures to the NBA, which has seemingly made Michigan State a better team. But I was listening to Colin Shell earlier this week, and if he took calls, I would have been the first caller. If he looked at his phone, which he sometimes does during a break, I would have texted him. Instead, I was driving on the 405, and I'm like, what are you doing? What are you talking about? because what Colin did was he took a tweet from Paul Pierce

and then he doubled down on it. Paul Pierce said, and this is from his Twitter account, hot take for all of you. Zion Williamson is already a top 50 current basketball player in the world. Now, look, I can sit here and debate back and forth with Paul Pierce, who is a contemporary. He and I were actually roommates way back one at the ABCD camp, and he said, I'm going to be the best.

player in high school basketball and he probably was in 1995. That's a class that had Kevin Garnett was probably the best player. Stefan Marbury and you go Vince Carter. Paul was right there. This was in fact a hot take because in order to be a top 50 basketball player in the world of 18 years old, that would make him better than the top two players on every team. And keep in mind that some teams have more than top two players, right? Like name me a Golden State Warrior starter who's Zion.

Williamson is better than today. And what we're doing is we're conflating an argument. Would you trade an All-Star to get Zion Williamson? Maybe and maybe yes. Yes. Look, I see it. He's the next version of Draymond Green, a guy who can guard any position and can kind of play any position. He can actually shoot the basketball a little bit, whereas Draymond's shot has fallen off. his body has kind of falling apart whereas with exception of twisting a knee because his shoe blew up there's been no issues with Zion Williamson's body

but Colin said he's a top 20 player right now and I want you to take a breath because you're going to have to stop and tell me who he's better than you know is he better than LeBron or James Hardin or Paul George or Kauai or Joel Embed or Steph or Janice or Kevin Durant or Damian

Lillard or Devin Booker or Kembo or Jimmy Butler or Ben Simmons or Clay Thompson or Cobbri. No. Do you know how you lose games in the NBA when you're trying to tank? You play your younger players. The same argument we make against people who sit at seats like this on TV channels and radio networks like this and say Duke could compete with NBA teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers is the exact same argument I'll make about Zion.

Look, there's a legit conversation. to be had that NBA people are trying to figure out is, is John Moran actually a better prospect than Zion Williamson? Zion Williamson is a happening. He makes basketball fun. He makes you think the impossible might be possible. But I hate to be the guy that throws cold water on this thing. But if you watched yesterday, you realize that Purdue lost four starters

and is playing in the elite eight. Texas Tech lost four starters and is playing in the elite eight. Hell, even Michigan lost Mo Wagner, their one pro from last year, and Muhammad Ali Abdul Rahman, and they're just as good in terms of wins and losses that were last year. Michigan State's going to play tonight. They lost their two lottery picks

and don't have a lottery pick on their team, and they won the Big Ten and won the Big Ten tournament. Why is that? well the truth is that college basketball is trending the way of college baseball look if you're anything or any good you're at least think you're a one and done think about how many guys have left early and so the attrition of guys leaving early has allowed programs like the nevadas of the world you know to compete or even Gonzales where you have late bloomers like a Brandon Clark.

The idea is this. You have to understand who Zion is competing against. He does look like a man against boys because he's playing against boys. When you're a boy playing against men, you look like a boy. If you've seen him in person, you know that upper body, he looks like a brick, you know what house. But his lower body is still thick. He hasn't yet leaned out. he hasn't yet lost all that body fat.

He's just now beginning to shoot the basketball, kind of a set shot from college three point range. Hey, in the NBA, here's the saying, you don't get longer, you don't get faster, everybody else does. The shots are deeper. Yes, the floor opens up and you can score more, but you can also get exposed more.

Look, I'm not sitting here going to tell you Zion Williamson stinks or that eventually he doesn't project to be a likely all-star. I love him. but at 18 years old with 20 games under his belt playing for the Duke Blue Devils as an undersized power forward who continues to improve and impress let's catch our breath in order for him to be a top 20 player in the NBA he has to be better than two-thirds of the league's best players on their team and that's just look at de angelo russell who is the number two pick who absolutely

dominated college basketball. He comes out and it's not until year four where he's an all-star. That doesn't mean that Zion won't be better than DeAngelo Russell, but right now if you're going to play a game tomorrow, no one on earth in the NBA who loves basketball and loves Zion

Williamson would take Zion ahead of DeAngelo Russell. No one. Not a single soul. Not a human being. I mean, you wouldn't take him ahead of Jason Tatum, would you? Of course not. Jason Tim's got a couple years in the league now, plus the year under his belt at Duke. You wouldn't take him ahead of Campbell Walker, would you? Look, I'm already three deep on the Boston Celtics. He'd be three deep on the Boston Celtics

roster, and I haven't gotten to Al Horford. Al Horford, well, he moves, he's slow. Yeah, but you know what? If I want to win a basketball game tonight, not look good, not dunk good, I take Al Horford. Six days a week, twice on Sunday. Let's not conflate the argument about what he could project to be and why some people may move mountains in order to get him with the conversation of what he is today, have reasonable expectations.

The reason you play young players in order to tank is because they're just not as good as the older players. They haven't yet hit their basketball prime. Let's stop making insane arguments. Insane arguments like, he's a top 20 player in the world. No, he's not. He's probably not a top 50 player in the world. Is he a top 50 prospect?

Would you rather have him than 30 other guys in the NBA? Maybe. Sure. I'll have that conversation. But this is like the conversation of would you trade LeBron James? You can't because he's not moving. It's not happening. Stop having conversations over things that aren't possible and aren't comparable.

He looks like a man against boys because he's playing against boys. anyone who pays any attention will tell you that college basketball, as much as I love it, I've covered it for 16 years, I've played it for five. I've been around it my entire life. I'm going to take my son to the Final Four. This is like my 13th or 14th Final Four that I've been to. Actually, maybe more.

I've got to redo my math. I can quote chapter and verse and all of them. And the reason he looks like a man playing against boys is because he's playing against boys. and a boy playing against the man looks like that. So catch your breath. Understand that what a guy projects to be is not what a guy is now. Enjoy this ride, whether it ends tonight against Virginia Tech,

who does have grownups, who does have more manlike bodies, or if it ends in a national championship crowd in Minnesota, where Duke has won two national titles. However, it ends, just enjoy it. Know that he's probably going to be the first. He might be the second round. pick and people are having discussion about, hey, boy, I kind of like Jha, and Jah Morant is a dominant ball handling point guard, which you look around the NBA and from the rookies, you know,

like Trey Young, or, you know, maybe even Loco is not really a point guard, but like a point power forward, guys that have the ball in their hands more, and then you go to a James Hardin, and you go to a Steph Curry, and you go to a Damien Lillard, or you go to a Russell Westbrook, those guys have the ball on their hands so much. They make so many more plays. They have a better value. This is like a quarterback, like a Kyler Murray, versus a Nick Bosa, right? That's essentially what this argument is.

John Morant is a Kyler Murray type. Quarterbacks have way more value than a defensive end, no matter how highly rated a defensive end is. And I think having a small ball power forward. center, even if he's only six foot five and a half, six foot six foot six, if he can guard all four, five positions, then he can make a shot, he can pass, he has a high basketball IQ and ridiculous pair of legs. He has value. That's an actual conversation taking place, but nobody who's reasonable is having a conversation whether or not he's a top 20 player in the world, because we know it's men and he's playing against boys. Last night in the Sweet 16 showed me something very,

very important. Love in basketball, love in sports. Kind of the same thing. I'll tell you what it was. Next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the I-Hard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the

mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Lela Edwards, If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke.

The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world, Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning.

It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Doug Gottlieb in for Colin, don't be that guy in the room with a long, sloppy looking, untuck shirt. Untucked shirts are made to fall at the perfect length. Go to Untucka.com and see for yourself why GQ called them professional. Use a promo code heard for 20% off all purchases at untucket.com. You guys watch intently last night's games?

You know, I saw Virginia. Virginia ends up winning last night. And like, look, we could get into the nuances of Virginia who has struggled to last year get out of the first round or to get past the Sweet 16 Elite 8 couple two years ago with Syracuse that came out of nowhere and came back and beat them, went to a Final Four, when it seemed like a locked up since Virginia was going. But Virginia is so much better offensively this year. Now, part of it is that DeAndre Hunter is back.

He's an NBA first round draft pick type talent. He's a sophomore. He was hurt last year when they lost to UMBC in the first round. But a big reason that they're so much better is their littlest reason. And it's kidding, Kaye Clark, who's only a freshman. And what we broadcast from here at Fox Sports Radio, the Iheart radio app, and of course on Fox Sports One, is right in the heart of the west side of Los Angeles.

We are five minutes if there was no traffic from Westwood where UCLA is located, 15 minutes there was no traffic from USC. And UCLA is still looking for a head coach. and it's not that they don't have talent. They actually recruited quite well under Steve Alford, in spite of the fact that many people thought he was coaching for his job. But they did not offer Clark a scholarship. He went to Taft High School, which is in Woodland Hills,

which is in the San Fernando Valley, and he was seen as a little too small, not dynamic enough, not an NBA caliber talent. And it struck me that Kayak Clark is, look, he's the reason that Virginia is so much better. And he barely ever shoots, rarely scores, although he has continued to improve throughout this season. And he looks like somebody's little brother

who's out there run around filling in because somebody missed the game, right? And it struck me that basketball as a microcosm of sports is a lot like love. it is right like look a guy can walk in and have everything going for him job car awesome place you know unbelievable place he knows the game right he knows how to order the wine how to tip the waitress how to look you in the eye the words to use he says all the right things but unless there's the chemistry there, unless there's the fit there, just not going to happen.

And that's the same thing. Look, the reason that Steve Alford got fired was he didn't have a guy Clark. And it's not an academic thing. Of course, he couldn't have got to UCLA. It went to Virginia, an elite academic school. And it's not like he wouldn't have gone. He wasn't offered. And it's not like he was out of their recruiting area.

He's right down the street. Woodland Hills is literally on the way from Steve Alford's house to Westwood where he worked. All he had to do is stop over one day and go, hey, do you want it? The kid says yes. And history changes. But it's sometimes hard for people to identify guys that don't look the part. I mean, take a look at Ryan Klein, who had all those threes last night for Purdue and their upset of Tennessee. Ryan Klein, you know, he looks like a kid that plays at a school in Indiana,

but he looks like a kid that comes off the bench. He can't seem to get by anybody. His ball kind of curves when it comes off his hands. Do you know why he's so valuable at Purdue? It's not because of the three-pointers that he made. That's an ancillary benefit. It's because Ryan Klein never turns the basketball over. Like almost never.

at a historic rate doesn't turn the basketball over. And basketball, just like football, if you have less turnovers, more possessions, you're more likely to win. It's basic math. And it struck me that sports and basketball are a lot like relationships in that the chemistry and doing the little things

and the connecting with one another is more important. Again, it doesn't mean you can't have no talent. It doesn't mean that a guy with moles everywhere and a nose that goes like this and snaggle teeth and bad breath. It doesn't mean that just because he doesn't look the part at all, it has no money and no hope, doesn't mean that he's going to score the 10.

But sometimes the team with a bunch of tens, Florida State, Tennessee, they walk in, they're like, man, Tennessee looks like a football team. Florida State looks like an NBA team and yet they can't get to a final four. Why? Those little chemistry guys that don't turn the ball over,

that run the offense, that defend the other team. Heck, you even look in the NBA, I know we're infatuated with the Golden State Warriors star talent. But look, the real reason the Golden State Warriors have won three of the last four championships is Andre Guadala. And the reason that they were beatable last year against the Houston Rockets was Andre Godala wasn't healthy.

Because if he's your fifth best player, you've got a hell of a team. He can guard anybody. And if left alone like he was three championships ago, he can make just enough shots to make you pay. Those are the guys that win you the championships. Don't get me wrong. You got to have some of that other stuff. You got to have a little swag.

Got to dress decently. Got to look decently. Got to have some sort of job prospects. but sports is a lot like love and that chemistry matters a whole lot more than anything else. Let's get to award-winning newsman, John Gulley. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. So some unexpected news out of Foxborough yesterday, Greg Shiano, who was hired to be the defensive coordinator not two months ago, is stepping down as defensive coordinator. He released a statement saying this is not the result of any one event but rather a realization that I need to spend more time on my

faith and family kind of an odd last year and a half or two. He was going to be the Tennessee head coach and then a Twitter revolt kept him at a high state. Led by Clay Travis which I thought was incredibly unfair. Right. I thought it was incredibly unfair

where he basically tied him to Jerry Sandusky completely unfairly so and because they didn't want him coach, right? Let's just be on because they didn't want him as them as coach. Right, but then also had a poor year as the defensive coordinator Ohio State. Their defense was not good. Gets let go. You figure out. Wait, wait, wait, when were they

not good? Their defense wasn't good. When was that? This past year. How many games they lose? One. One game. They also gave up 50 to Maryland and... Okay. They let him go. I'm just saying they let him go for a reason. Well, they let him go because there was a change

at head coach. And like Nick Bosa got hurt and And they had a lot of guys pulling this, like, you're making the, let's, we don't know if he was let go. I mean, it's weird when a guy who's way more qualified than the guy who gets named head coach is named head coach. And that probably doesn't work out in the inner workings of a coaching office. So we don't know if he was let go because of performance or because, hey, new coach wants to bring in his own guys, which seems a lot more likely. Did they get lit up by Purdue? Yes.

Did they get lit up by Maryland? Yes. But they also dominated down the stretch, dominating Michigan, winning a bowl game. Sure. And like, look, he did a great job at Rutgers. He did not do a good job at Tampa's head coach. But he had a far better resume than the guy, Ryan Day, who actually got the head coaching job. For sure.

Does this hurt the Patriots in any way? I mean, it's pretty late in the game to be looking for a defensive coordinator. Of course, on the other hand, they have Bill Belichick and kind of frequently don't have an official defensive coordinator. Well, he wasn't actually named a defensive coordinator. That's the weird part, right? How can you resign from a position that you weren't officially named? too. But let's start with Shiano.

Just anytime you come out and you say, I want to spend more time with my family and my faith, it makes us think, just immediately think that something went wrong in your personal life, doesn't it? I don't know. It's unfair because everyone should want to spend more time with your faith in your family. But that's what past people have caused us to wonder. Does it hurt the Patriots? I don't know.

I don't know who's available. I don't know how big a check they will write. Obviously, they lost Brian Flores. We lost Brian Flores, who they thought they were going to lose. Who can they go out and get? Is there a guy who, remember, part of the reason that it worked was because Shianu was a Belichick guy. I mean, go back and look at how many Rutgers players he had brought up, the McCordy's, for example. Amends amount of respect.

So I would guess that it would be somebody with Alabama ties, somebody with Ohio State ties, or somebody with Shianu ties, or somebody with Belichick ties who will we turn to. I do think he is replaceable considering. We haven't even hit OTAs yet. The Eagles have acquired Bears running back Jordan Howard for a 2026th round pick that I believe can become a fifth round pick with certain incentives. Howard's in the final year of his rookie deal. It only makes about $2 million. Howard kind of got forgotten.

Last year, he still had 935 yards and 9 scores splitting time with Turin. Is this another smart move by the Eagles? I feel like they just amass running backs all the time. It is because it's not a huge amount of money and you're going to get a compensatory pick and for the Bears like look Jordan Howard, a lot of tread off those tires and he had kind of

been pushed aside a little bit you mentioned it become the guy they sign the Davis kid from Seattle Nagy loves using the past catching running backs right I mean look are they going to need between the tackles back yeah but you feel like you can draft one later rounds and still get productivity So I think this makes all the sense in the world.

And what makes the most sense for the Eagles is they do get a compensatory pick. So it's even if he doesn't have much left. They won't resign him after this year. Correct. And $2 million is not a crazy amount of money for a guy who's been a starting running back and a pretty good one in the NFL. And finally, it's College Hoops Time, sponsored by Guinness. Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Brewers of Guinness.

Purdue star Carson Edwards finished last night's win over Tennessee. Game high 29 points. So going back to last year, that's four straight tournament games. with 25 points are more for Edwards, which puts him in pretty elite company. Take a listen. So how does it feel, or did you even know that now you're the first player to have four consecutive 25-point tournament games in Steph Curry? Oh.

Oh, man. That's pretty dope. I did know that. It's just a blessing to be here and just had the opportunity to play at this level, man. to play with a bunch of good guys and a good staff that believes in me. So I'm just happy to be here, man. I just want to continue to play. When it comes down to it, I don't even really care about the points, man.

I just want to win. Cares about the points a little, I would say. But it's so very impressive. He's got a scores mentality. For sure. That dude comes out firing. He's built like a basketball version of Sequin Barclay. If you ever seen him, like, his thighs for a basketball player, like, ripped and, like,

it looks like he's a walking, you know, squat. Like, this is what it looks like after you've done squats. It is pretty elite company. I didn't think there was much controversy over the foul. I didn't understand. You know, he didn't Reggie Miller had kicked the legs out. He always kind of twist with that right leg. And unfortunately, Tennessee ran into him.

Tennessee ran into him. Unbelievable comeback. But Tennessee ran into him when he took a three, and he only made two out of the three free throws. And then Tennessee had another shot in overtime and couldn't beat him. And that's John Goulet with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by.

The Herd Lye News. All right, let's bring him in. He played over a decade in the NBA. Of course, won an NBA title. He's Matt Barnes. He joins us here in the herd. You know, it's interesting, Matt. I mean, you are a guy who brought kind of toughness and cohesiveness and chemistry to every team that you played on.

And I do think, like, whether it's the Warriors and what. and what Andre Godala brings to them and what Sean Livingston has brought to them or whether it's last night with Pay Clark, the kid from the Valley, brings to Virginia. We are all trained. Our eyes are trained to look at the stars,

but it's those other guys that do the little things that really make championship teams, no? You can be a star in your role. You know, and that's said, you have two or three superstars, you know, now with the NBA is two or three superstars, but you can always be a star in your role. And I think that's what gives some guys longevity.

You know, I was allowed to play 14 years, you know, Sean and Iggy or, you know, can play as long as they want. I think it's, you know, once you understand what your role is you can be a star in that role, you don't have to necessarily be a superstar, but you can be a star in that role and understand your role and have a long career.

All right, let me just quickly put a cap on last night and get ready for tonight. Last night, Purdue wins. They shoot the eyes out of the basketball and Tennessee has this incredible comeback. Did you have any issue with the foul call at the end of regulation between Purdue and Tennessee? He got fouled.

You know, he got a foul. Got to protect the shooter, right? Right, exactly. You know what I mean? It looked like he was out. I don't know if he was exactly out, all the angles. But, you know, at the end of the day, he got fouled. And that's one thing you definitely have to do is,

as a shooter, when you're up in the area, you're as vulnerable as it can be. You know, so if you're not protected, it gets dangerous. And like you said, he made two out of three of the free throws, and then Tennessee had a chance to win it again in overtime and couldn't. But this trade, it's been a great tournament. It's been fun to watch. You know, I finally got my twins into actually sitting down and getting off their iPads and watching college basketball, which is amazing.

So it's been a fun time to watch. Yeah, me, me too. My son's always been like YouTube and then watching highlights. I'm like, no, actually watch the games. Watch the games. Watch the games. Watch how people play against the zone. Why do they play zone?

Because it works. Okay, tonight we're going to see Zion. And look, I've talked to NBA people and they're like, we all love Zion. And since about mid-season, it's been that he's going to, going to be the number one pick. But then you watch John Morant and you look at the league and you look at how dominant ball handlers dominate this league, at least

in the regular season, whether it's from Steph to James Harden to what Trey Young is doing now here late in the season as a rookie. And like I think Zion projects to be some form of Barkley meets

Draymond meets Blake Griffin, right? Like a small ball five starting at your power forward and he's got some work to do in his jump shop, but he seems to have a high basketball IQ and a motor. His body's a little bit in question. Can you play it that big? If you took away the fact that his name is Zion Williamson,

and he's a thing, he's going to sell out every seat in your barn for the entire year. Who do you take, John Morant or Zion Williamson? That's a lot to take away, though. You know, so I'm taking Zion from the standpoint of, you know, he's still young. When people talk about his strength and he's playing man amongst boys, which he is, but at the same time, at his sense, size and strength right now. He's one of the bigger players in the NBA as well. You know, when you come

when you come just pound for pound, he's probably top five and weight. You know, was he about 275, 280? I believe he'd be the heaviest player in the NBA. Only only God, what's the big dude who's? Bowman or someone? Okay. Only Bobon weighs that much. So I think, you know, as NBA

players, I think he'll definitely lean out, but at the same time get stronger. I don't see him staying at 280. I think he'll hit his playing weight. Like once he's really, when we see the best design, he'll probably be around a 265. But I think, you know, he's so skilled and soft touch and he can handle the ball. He can pass the ball. He gets knocked for shooting, but, you know, his job is going to be to learn to shoot, you know, for the next 15 years or however long he plays in the NBA. So I think the excitement

factor and the wow factor and the way he dunks the ball, he's the number one pick. And I think, you know, a franchise like New York needs that. They need eyes and they need someone who can fill seeds. They need someone who's going to have huge shoe contract. track that they could start making commercials about and all that kind of stuff. So I think more, he's more of a franchise revitalizing pick. Now when you talk straight skill, R.J. Bairdon and the other kid, Marano are very, very skilled and very, very talented. So it's going to be, I said it like last week, I think this is going to be like a

Carmelo, LeBron, D. Wade type of situation. When you look at it, maybe 10 to 12 years or all three of these guys have very successful careers and have done very work for themselves. All right. coming up next, I want to talk about the Lakers. The latest name was Rick Carlisle, which the Mavericks shot down. I have a belief in who the Lakers are. You're a dad, I'm a dad.

I'll tell you the type of dad that they are. And you'll tell me how real that Doc Rivers story actually was. Matt Barnes will continue to join us coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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, the 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced 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've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose.

On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entire. entirely different worlds. Just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history.

You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness,

professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like.

Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning.

It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast. Podcasts for wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. If you own a sports team, you need to be informed, make smart decisions, and build a champion. It's no different when it comes to selling or trading your car. You need to make good choice with True Car. You've got a star in your roster.

When you're ready to sell or trade in your car, check out True Car, True Cash Offer, not available in all areas. Doug Gottlieb in for Colin. This is the Hurt. Fox Sports One, Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio app. Jeff Goodman from Stadium Sports. We'll join us upcoming next hour. We'll ask him, who's going to get that UCLA job? Matt Barnes, obviously, a UCLA alum continues to join us. You got any idea?

Like, it has been really a state-held secret who gets the UCLA. Yeah, I mean, there's talks, there's rumblins about some big names. And then, you know, I heard Earl Watson did really well in his interview. You know, to me, if you can't get a historical name that's bigger than the program that can really change things around, I think for once they need to go grassroots with someone that can get some of the alumni back and really build that UCLA pride back up that the school so desperately needs. Yeah, it is interesting.

Like, look, I haven't been in that position before, I can tell you that, like, part of the sale is, like, hey, look, recruiting is about telling a story. When it's your story, it's a lot easier to tell, right? A lot easier to tell. And then, of course, the bringing back guys, instead of having to be told, hey, this guy played here then, this guy played here then.

I mean, especially with how many guys, I mean, we have UCLA group chat, whether it's about 20 of us, anywhere from, you know, Charles O'Bannon, to Toby Bailey, to Baron Davis, Earl Watson. and all of us are still very well connected, and that's the disconnect with UCLA, is there's no connection with the alumni. Right, and the former coaches aren't necessarily around.

I know that Coach Herrick is now at Cal State Northridge, but I wonder if Charles Rochland, while he doesn't get on that, while he doesn't get on that group. I'm an old school UCLA guy. All right, Matt Barnes, let me, here's what I think the Lakers are. Have you noticed that, have you noticed that all the moves the Clippers have made?

Blake Griffin traded, Chris Paul traded, Tobias Harris traded. did anyone see those moves coming? Did anyone see them coming? Poker hand, poker faces. Correct. And that's generally the way the NBA works, right? When Kawhi Leonard was moved to the Toronto Raptors,

there was no rumors of, right? So here's how I related. And you've been married, you have kids, you know how this works. Like there are times as a dad where you got to sneak out early. And when I say sneak out, it sounds sneaky, but I'm just saying you've got to get out of the house early, go get coffee or go to work. And when the kids are asleep, you can't wake them up.

And some dads just don't have the ability to be ninja dads. You know, they step on every Lego. They stub their toe. They rattle their keys constantly. Right? Like there's a way to pick up your keys where, where instead of doing this and it wakes somebody up, you grab them.

You grab them. You grab them. And then you have them in your hand. The Lakers are the guy that's rattling in the keys, making the noise. When they get up in the morning. Like everyone sees them coming. Why is that? I think it's, you know, the old out of loose lips sink ships.

Yeah. I think it's, they're almost a desperation stage where if they have a good move, they want to tell the world because, you know, they didn't do a very good job last season. So they want to let everyone know, like, okay, you know, with magic, we're going to get another one next year. And this is the coach we're going after now. And this is what's going on. You know, I think it may be an L.A. thing.

It may be a Laker thing, or it may be a fact of, okay, we haven't done so well this far, thus far. So let me say what our plans are, and maybe that will take some pressure off us. But to me, that's backwards thinking. To me, you have to move very strategically this summer with everything you do from trades to coaches to if there's management changes. Everything has to be very strategic because they're going to be, they could possibly be at a point where, you know, they're dangling all their young talent again and don't really trade for anybody. Then you've got to bring these same guys that you tried to trade at the trade deadline. You tried to dangle them all summer.

And then you're trying to tell them, okay, now we believe in you. Let's have a good season. So I think this has to be a very big quiet from a strategic standpoint summer. but they really need to make some stuff happen. The problem with that, though, is, and that's smart. Problem though is now we get the Rick Harlisle story. Right. Look, Rick Harlil makes sense, right?

Offensive mastermind, guy who's got a healthy ego, but it's supported by the fact he's been into NBA finals and won an NBA championship against LeBron. Right. And, you know, part of the deal is, in order to win in the NBA, you have to have respect to the locker room. In order to have respect to locker room, you have to have one in the NBA. So, like, I get, now the Doc Rivers thing. Okay, was that just floated?

Was that Doc trying to? get a new contract, which you got with the Clippers? Or was that a real possibility? I heard it was a real possibility. And when I first heard, I'm just like, no way. You know, like to me, the Clippers look like they're on the up and up. They look like a smooth situation. But then I happened to be somewhere the day it broke.

And the people I was working with are, you know, very entwined to, you know, what's going on. And they said that was a real situation. Now, whether because it broke and it got so big that they had to kind of hush that up. They don't want to have a distraction going into the playoffs because all of a sudden now he as a handshake deal to be the coach next year. You know, I've never really heard a handshake deal. You know, normally if you're getting an extension, you're going to sign it.

So, but for when I was, what I was told that day, that it was, it was really, it was a serious move. Okay. So, that's not going to happen. I don't think the Carlisle thing is going to happen. I don't think Jason kids getting the job. Dude, you can't go on TV talking about a job that's not open. Like, that is, that does not go over well in most NBA circles, right? So then you have, you know, Mark Jackson, you got Tylo,

you got college coaches out there? Like who's the guy who can fix it? I don't know if there's a coach that can fix it. To be honest with you, I think you kind of have to go more along the lines of this team is built. This is LeBron's team, so to speak. So I think you've got to get a LeBron guy from that standpoint. Maybe someone that can get out the way and let LeBron be LeBron.

But I think more than you need personnel, you know, that fits him. They didn't have any from the beginning last year. You know, everyone was excited about the team, but a glaring weakness was shooting. No, LeBron is very successful when the court is. space, he can attack, and he can penetrate and kick or score. They didn't have that kind of spacing this year mixed with a lot of other stuff. So I think more than a coach, I mean, a coach will be important somewhat, but this is a player's league more than anything.

You need a coach that can, you know, have respect, obviously, but then probably his best attribute for the Lakers is going to be to get out the way. Yeah, the one question I have is he was able to cover up some of those shooters weaknesses defensively for a long time, and now he can't, right? And so it dramatically changes when you kind of got to hide LeBron defensively. Last thing. I don't know if you saw the story. You're a former warrior.

Jordan Bell was suspended for a game. And apparently it was because he charged a candle from like bed, bath and beyond to Mike Brown's room. Right? And I guess there's like a running, it was like a running prank that, but there has to be something more to the story than just like a $15 candle. Yeah, I can. I mean, I remember, this is a funny story.

I remember when we were in Phoenix with Shaq. And, man, me, him, Steve, Raja. We all went to eat one day, and we charged a huge bill to Terry Porter's room. And they were pissed. Like, we ate, and they were pit. I might have just snitched, my bad. But anyway, so this is something that happens where, you know, players will charge stuff to other people. It happened on the clippers before charging stuff.

So that's funny. But for him to be suspended, I think there has to be a little bit more because we charged a lot of money on some coaches' bills and no one ever got suspended. Can the Celtics get it together before the playoffs? I think so. They're such an intriguing team, and I think if there wasn't so much drama with the Lakers, that would have been more dissected because I think that was a very unhappy locker room,

but then at times you see how talented they are. And I think more than anything, normally a team has to, you know, mold their game to the superstar. I think this is one exception where Kyrie has to mold his game to what those younger players are doing because they've done without him.

I think if Kyrie can do that, go out there, play basketball, share the ball, have fun. They're going to be, you know, they're definitely something come out of the east. You know what the one that no one's talking about? The Thunder. Like the Thunder have gone from second best team in the West, legit challenger to, you know, eighth seed in the West.

Played better last time out against the Pacers. But they'll happen to Thunder's chemistry. I think a little bit of, to me, it's always been less as more with West, Westbrook. And I think that he showed flashes this year where he's kind of taken a little bit of a backseat and let Paul do the bulk of the scoring because normally a point guard shooting that much is not going to work if you're called on to be the main distributor. You know, Steph can get away of taking 20 shots because they have a lot of other distributors

on that team, the guys that get people make plays for other guys. But Russ has counted on so much to distribute as well that I think when he takes around 15 to 16 shots instead of 24 to 25 shots, obviously they're a better team. Matt Barnes, great stuff, Matt. Look forward to seeing him on all of our shows here on Fox Sports One. I'll tell you why Antonio Brown forcing himself out of Pittsburgh, while it seemed to be a good thing for player empowerment, might actually. have the opposite of the effect.

That's next. I'm Doug Gottlieb. This is The Herd. 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. Welcome in. This is The Herd, wherever you may be in.

However you may be making this part of your day. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlieb, going in for Colin Cowherd. Man, do we have some great hoop? Last night, Ghosiga moves on. The Zags will face the Red Raiders of Texas Tech who demolished Michigan. Yes, that score was correct. Michigan had 16 points at the half.

It did look a little like Michigan, Ohio State football. Did it not? A little bit, a little bit. And then in the other side, you had Virginia taking care of business, and they'll take on Purdue, which means that either Matt Painter will take the boilermakers to his first Fauna 4, or Tony Bennett will finally pass through that threshold and get to the

final 4. We got Big Boys tonight, Duke, Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State. Those are Blue Bloods in College Basketball. Jeff Goodman, my good friend, will join us upcoming in 15 minutes as we get all the talk of the college basketball coaching world, the reaction of last night, and we get ready for

tonight when, as I said, the big boys take the stage. I saw this report from ESPN. According to ESPN, which cited anonymous legal league executives, the concern is Antonio Brown has created a model that if players treat themselves as a free agent, they will be able to get what they want. The worry is it'll become dangerous for teams because players won't want to honor their contracts.

Quote, it's a problem. Other star players see this and might want to do the same. game. I know the Steelers had a difficult situation, need to get rid of him, but they had other options. Remember, it wasn't just that he hurt his trade value with the way in which he got himself out of Pittsburgh and didn't play in week 17, a must-win game for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Steelers are still paying with a $21.1.2 million cap hit. One unnamed source said, it's a very unstealer-like move. Levyon Bell, of course, held out for for the entire season, thought he would get a pirate's ransom. He did not, but still, I mean,

I guess he wins. He got to pick his destination, even if the Jets weren't necessarily the destination or the true value that he thought he would get. Like, look, I think it's a loss for Lavian Bell, but you could sell it as a win if you have enough money to withstand not making $14 million for a year. And Antonio Brown absolutely got a win. He got a new contract. He had an He had a deal that had no guaranteed money in it and the last three years of it. He held the Steelers hostage and they paid the ransom and got him out of town. And took the $21.12 million cap hit. This is seen as a win and a dangerous precedent for league executives.

So, of course, they'll react by being kinder and gentler to players, right? what's that potus says wrong wrong yeah listen this will not be met with the type of grace that one would think NFL owners would meet with look even if you don't want to take the Antonio Brown deal take the Alex Smith contract Alex Smith broke his leg so severely that he had blood loss of blood supply was not going to his leg I've been told Collins been told the exact same thing that most people think playing is not even really an option for Alex Smith, ever. I mean, it's just a gruesome, devastating, terrible injury for a guy who everyone deems to be a really good guy. And somebody who got progressively better figured it out after five or so years in the league.

And then was productive, led the Niners to an NFC championship game, then took Kansas City to the playoffs, and was on the way to taking the Redskins to the playoffs before suffering such a gruesome injury. Alex Smith's a solid dude. No baggage at all. But if he doesn't play football again or doesn't play football in the next couple of years, it doesn't matter with the salary cap. It's still going to hurt the Washington Redskins because it's not protected with injury. He is.

And that's $20 million off their cap the next two years. And what happens with the media, what happens with fans, what happens with players, like, see, this is why we should get long-term guaranteed contracts. Which is why NFL execs say, see, that's exactly why they shouldn't get long-term guaranteed contracts. Because Ryan Chazier is one hit away from barely walking ever again. And Alex Smith is one hit away from not playing and sucking up, you know, a third of your cap space or a fourth-year cap-space for the next two years. Or Antonio Brown is one fit away from sitting out and causing you to lose cap-space and causing you to lose a star player. I know the intention of this.

Good intentions by many people. Hey, protect the players. Let them dictate where they want to go, where they want to work. But one of the reasons the NFL is so popular is, when I turn on the TV on a Thursday or on a Sunday or on a Monday, I know who plays for that team. There is some player movement, but generally, quarterbacks play with about one team, maybe two.

late in their career is often when they get that second stop. Look around the league. Brady's played for one team. Rivers played for one team. Drew Brees has played for two. That only because Philip Rivers and he got hurt, but Rivers was going to replace him. Aaron Rogers played for one. Eli Manning's played for one. Big Ben's played for one. And so with all the other stuff changing, you turn on the TV and Pittsburgh Steelers

synonymous with their quarterback. that's the way it works. And that works for the league. Whereas in the NBA, dude, you need a, you need name tags. It's like, it's one of the reasons that college basketball is so hard to watch in the regular season,

because you don't know who's where or who wait. Didn't he used to play for, you got guys transferring twice, let alone one time. And that's the reason that the blue blood sell. If Duke's on, if Michigan's on, if Kentucky's on, if North Carolina's on, Michigan State's on. We know the coach because the coach is going to stay there and we know generally

the team is going to be good. And we get to learn about the players. But if you think that NFL owners and executives are like, hey, this is awesome. We need to really plan for this, protect ourselves from players. The way to protect ourselves and players is, dude, I don't want to be paying money for a guy playing for a different team. Instead of getting longer, contracts are going to get shorter and more prohibitive in terms of movement. So you can sit here, DeMarcus Lawrence can say, I don't want this contract from the Dallas Cowboys. Or Dak Prescott this year. I'm the Dallas Cowboys and Dak Prescott doesn't want to sign a contract extension.

Have him play under the current deal. You can always franchise tag him for the next couple of years. And then you can always renegotiate while you franchise tag him. He doesn't have to like it and you don't have to move him. It is a game of chicken and Levi-on Bell was the one guy who did not blink. And he lost $14 million he's never going to make back. Antonio Brown never sat. But the Steelers were so done with them that they were willing to take that cap hit.

But I don't think that helps players in the future. I think that hurts them in the future. Because for every media type, for every fan, for every agent that says, see, we got to protect ourselves from the big, bad NFL executives. They will tell you like, look, this is the way the cap works. This is the way we protect ourselves. And if you don't want a salary cap, that's cool. Because I'm not sure how many people are aware.

They did not have a salary cap in 2010. There was no NFL salary cap in 2010. And a bunch of players thought they were getting paid. And do you know what happened? They got lowballed. Because the salary cap provides a ceiling and it provides a floor. And if there's no salary cap, there's no floor. And so you have the haves and you have the have-nots.

and you have no middle class. So as long as the salary cap exists, you'll have dead cap money. And if you're going to have dead cap money, you're going to have teams are going to try to avoid paying for players that they no longer want. They will change the contracts

and they won't be more beneficial towards the players. They will always be more beneficial towards the owners. And if you think that professional sports is the only place this exists, I don't know how many of you know this. In media. True story. Media contracts.

And I've changed. jobs I've changed networks two times. You can go to your boss and you can say, hey, thank you so much for the offer of the contract extension. Thank you so much for all the time, all the help, all the promotion, but I really want to take this new job. They don't have to actually let you go if you read the contract. They can actually pay you to remain under contract only matching the terms.

of your new contract and remain an employee of a place that you no longer want to work. Now, you can throw a fit, you can no show to work, they could hold, it's the exact same thing. Contracts have fine print. It doesn't just exist in the world of professional football. A heck in music, right? If somebody pays you for five records, you got to make the five records. That's the way it works when you're an employer, when you're an employee to an employer. So, though NFL, when NFL execs think it's a bad precedent and think this could be an ominous side,

that doesn't mean that suddenly they're going to go, you know what, fellas, let's take care of these players a little bit more. Let's give them longer guaranteed contracts. Let's be kinder. Let's be gentler. Let's be more forgiving of some of their misgivings. No, actually, the opposite will take place. Alex Smith might not play football anymore, and he's still going to hurt the Washington Redskins through no fault of his own.

Antonio Brown's not going to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he's going to hurt the Pittsburgh Steelers' ability to replace him. I don't think those are wins for the players. Even the Kirk Cousins deal, which was a win, right? $86 million, three years guaranteed. And he actually played, well, second in completion percentage, 30 touchdowns, 10 interceptions. It happened. Kirk Cousins, right?

That was deemed to be a disastrous move to sign to a three-year guaranteed contract. One that'll be hard to replicate. Nick Foles didn't get that money. Did not get the same money. Just because the Raiders did it doesn't mean the rest of the world did. And just because there is precedent doesn't mean there is good precedent. Don't believe me. Take Kirk Cousins.

Take Alex Smith. Take Antonio Brown. Take Ryan Shazir. All right. Coming up next. Jeff Goodman from Stadium Sports checks in from Kansas City, the Midwest region. I have said, look, I think Zion is great. He is fun. He makes Duke likable. That is almost impossible for many of you.

But is he really a top 10 player, top 20 player in the world right now? Well, checking with Jeff Goodman, plus some interesting moves in the coaching carousel. Who's going to get the UCLA job because it's sat open the longest and it's the most prestigious? That's upcoming next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports. 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,

the 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.

SportsSlice 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 Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, learn the hard way with me,

your host, and your favorite therapist. Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Destin, Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth?

Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion dollar fraud.

But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them?

On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't

don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Great news. There's a quick and easy way to save money. Switch to GEICO. It could take 15 minutes to see if you could save 15% of more in your car insurance. Go to geico.com and see how much you could save. Jeff Goodman is a longtime basketball insider for various networks. Used to work for this one.

used to work for another one, now works for stadium sports. We've done some work together. He's breaking stories even kind of as we speak. Jeff, let me first kind of get your reaction to last night. What surprised you about last night's four games? The Purdue won. The Purdue is this far, Doug. I mean, the job Matt Painter has done with this boiler makers group is ridiculous

because Carson Edwards was not good during the Big 12 slate, did Big Ten slate, yet they still. won a share of the conference title. And now he's got them one step away from the final four. Remember, years ago, I thought that Purdue had a chance to maybe win it all if Robbie Hummel and stayed healthy. This team, I mean, Chris Beard and Matt Painter have done, they should share the national coach of the year because the job both of them have done is insane.

Now, again, Beard has a lottery pick and he may have a top five pick in Jared Culver. Matt Painter, what does he have? I mean, like Carson Edwards might be a good second. unit guy in the NBA. That's it. I mean, Ryan Klein, man, he was unbelievable last night. So Matt Painter to me, the job produced done is the biggest shock

of the season, period. Both teams obviously are placing four stars from last year's teams that went to elite eight and sweet 16. Let me ask you about Chris Beard. They hold Michigan to 16 points in the first half. And I mean, look, they embarrassed the Wolverines. They just did.

There's talk in LA about, hey, why not get this guy. He went to Texas and of course there's talking Texas of, you know, why don't we fire Shaka and just throw as much money as we can at Chris Beard? He does seem like a West Texas guy. Do you think he stays in West Texas? I think he stays in West Texas until Texas or Arizona open up. I think those are the two that kind of fit him the best. Arizona's the job. I mean, that's the one that he should be waiting for. And you got to see what happens here in late April, early May, in the next FBI trial as it relates to Sean Miller and his future in Tucson. That's the one because he doesn't really fit in Westwood. I mean, if you know Chris Beard, he's a little kind of rough

around the edges, doesn't necessarily have the personality. But man, he can coach and he can win games. And if I'm UCLA, I'm probably prioritizing that over everything else at this point, because otherwise you're going to be irrelevant. Go ahead. Grab a guy who fits and looks the part. but if he can't win games, nobody cares. So go get Chris Beard if you're UCLA, but if I'm Chris Beard, I think Arizona is a better job for him than UCLA. I would disagree with in terms of personality

and rough around the edges, but then again, people say the same thing about you. I don't know. It's a good point. Good point. You say the same thing about what you mean. I mean.

I actually do. Jeff Goodman joins us here in the herd. I'm Doug Gottlieb filling in for Colin Cowher. All right, we're going to see Zion tonight. Cowherd, this is his chair. He's like top 20 player in the world right now. Paul Pierce has said top 50 player in the world. Look, I love the kid.

I think he makes Duke likable. He plays hard. He plays with a smile. He's a joy to watch play. But I'm also realist that Ben Simmons redshirted year before he played in the NBA. Blake Griffin redshirt year. You're like this is an 18-year-old kid who still has to probably lose 25 pounds, continue to develop.

Like top 20 player in the world seems rich. ridiculous to me. You on my side or Cowherd side? Probably closer to Colin side, to be honest. I mean, I think if you put Zion in there right now, let's say Chris Middleton, Jason Tatum, those are probably forwards that are in that top 20,

30 range, right? Would we agree on that? Tatum more than Milton, but even Tatum, yeah, he's scratching the top 30, yeah. But like Jason Tatum in his second year in the league is a far better basketball player than right now,

right now, then Zion Williamson. How are Jason Tatum or Chris Middleton going to guard Zion? Now again, how is Zion going to guard them? Yeah, they're going to make him shoot. You know what? With the spacing in the NBA, Doug, go ahead. Like, he's going to drive him. He's going to drive

him and bully him. And they're going to need help. They're going to need help. He's 280. He's 285. Like, good luck. Good luck, Chris Middleton, trying to guard this dude. I wasn't bought in before the year after watching him in A.U. And in high school, now I'm bought in. This guy is incredible, not just because of his physical abilities, either done.

No, yeah. It's because, like you said, his IQ, how hard he plays on both ends. Like, that's the thing. He plays like he's a three-star or a two-star recruit. He does not play like somebody who has had their ass kissed for years and years and years now. Yeah, no, it's really, really amazing. Okay, so they play Virginia Tech. Most people have Buzz Williams on the next plane to Texas A&M to take the job the second they lose.

In the meantime, they've actually beaten Duke. Granted, Zion didn't play, but neither did Justin Robinson, the point guard for Virginia Tech. Does Duke's run come to an end tonight? No, I think they roll. I do. I think they roll in this one because you don't really have anybody. Black's year can protect the rim to some extent. But R.J. Barrett is going to salivate.

at the fact that he doesn't have to look in the lane and see a seven-foot-five dude waiting on him. Zion Williamson, same thing. He was effective, Zion, but not to the same level. He wasn't able to dunk like he could and attack. RJ Barrett was the one who was most affected by Taco Fall. And I think now, again, yeah, Justin Robinson helps. But Justin Robinson is not going to be in the lane waiting for RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson. Those guys are going to take it to him.

they're going to score, you know, 55 points between the two. They're going to go to the line over and over and over. And I would be shocked if this is a single-digit game at the end. I'm going to take the other side. I think Duke wins, but I think Virginia Tech keeps it exceptionally close. Okay, what about Kentucky? PJ Washington was playing like the best player in the SEC, one of the best players in America. And then, you know, first weekend in the NCAA term, he's in a cast.

So doesn't play first two games. and then all of a sudden two days ago he Instagrams out a live video of him walking so now all of a sudden there's a chance that he'll play will we see PJ Washington tonight and will we see him Sunday

maybe more importantly yeah we don't know what we know is John Calipari said that he has been cleared by the doctors and there's no risk of further damage to the sprained foot I say how the hell can you put him out there three days

after he gets out of a cast that he's been in for a week against an athletic Houston team that is going to go right at him. Let's face it. If PJ Washington's out there, they're going to try to exploit him in every way possible, especially getting him up and down on the court. And this is a kid who could be a lottery picked up. I just don't know how you put him out there. I know he wants to get out there. He's a tough kid. Love him as a player. Love him as a kid. But again, if you're John Cal Perry and you've been all about your players for a long, long time, I think you protect your player here. Yeah. Look, I think it's different because he's a, he's a future NBA draft pick, but I do think that playing will only help his stock if he plays, but how healthy it will be.

I would guess if it was me and he can play, I play him a couple minutes tonight so that he does, so that we see how it reacts with the day off. You see if you can play him Sunday, because Sunday, potentially against North Carolina, that's game of the tournament. Right, game of the tournament to date in terms of the overall talent, coaches championship programs. You got to, he's got to have played in a basketball game before that game in order, in order to be right. I want to ask you also, Jeff, you cover the NBA, you know the Celtics well. Is it Kyrie?

Is it the players and the coaches, these not really being all the players that vibe with the coaches? Is it Gordon Hayward and then playing him too many minutes and that being awkward for their rotation? Why aren't the Celtics better and more cohesive or the best terms? is more connected at this point in the season? Well, number one, yeah, Kyrie is not a leader.

I mean, we know that, we've known that, we've heard that. Kyrie's kind of moody. Sometimes the air is sucked out of the locker room when Kyrie walks in it. Number two, when's the last time, Doug, you ever heard anybody say a negative word about Brad Stevens as a coach? Player, another coach, anybody, anybody,

how to deal with people. Brad Stevens is about as good as it gets in that. And if you can't get along with Brad Stevens and you can't respect them. And the biggest thing I have for Kyrie, like to shut your mouth to the media. Like all you got to do is be good and be phony for five minutes to us. You can't do that every day without bad mouth than your teammates, without questioning your coaches. Like to me, again, just buy in. Fake it till you make it.

And maybe this team will have better chemistry. Maybe people won't have a lack of respect for how you handle yourself. And again, your lack of leadership abilities. is a special, special talent. We all know that. But ultimately, this team last year in the playoffs was way more fun to watch, way more fun to watch and way more successful than this team has been so far. Yeah.

I mean, look, they survived the Bucks. They did beat the Philadelphia 76ers. And they had a shot against the Cavaliers. But I would think anybody would think that they're better when healthy. But there is something with the chemistry of this team, which is just not right, which is something I talked about a little bit earlier. Last thing, the Thunder have kind of fallen on hard times, and there's kind of long been a rumor that, hey, Billy Donovan,

when the Indiana job was open, maybe there. Now the UCLA job is open, but he signed a contract extension at the end of last season. What are your thoughts on whether or not Billy Donovan is an NBA coach next year? Yeah, I still think Sam Presti stands by him for another year again. I know they've fallen off, but it's really going to depend on what they do in the playoffs. too. I mean, if they got swept in the first round, yeah, I could see maybe they, you know, there's a movement here to get him out. But Sam Presti's kind of a different dude as a GM. And I think he'll stick through Billy Donovan for for one more year at least. But you're right.

Like the thought has always been whatever big job at the time is open when Billy Donovan, if he does get fired, that he misses college. He misses the camaraderie of college. I don't think he misses the recruiting. I don't think any of those guys do. whether it's, you know, Fred Hoyberg, whether it's Brad Stevens, whether it's Billy Donovan. But they miss the ability to actually coach God's because you really can't coach Russell Westbrook. Let's be honest. He's doing what he wants to do. Yeah, yeah. He went OK, geez, our kind of guys. Jeff Goodman is, unfortunately, one of my kind of guys.

But he's a friend and he's good at what he does. And I appreciate him joining us here in the herd. Jeff, great stuff. Look forward to following you as you break more stories on Twitter. Thanks for joining us. You got a thanks, Doug. All right, it's Jeff Gooden from Stadium. Of course, he broke that Mark Fox, I believe, is going to be the new head coach of the Cal Golden Bears.

All be the newsman. Now turn over to our award-winning newsman. Here's John Gullet. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So Giants running back, Sequin Barkley, does not like the criticism his quarterback Eli Manning is getting.

In an interview with Bleacher Report, he said, quote, yeah, it bothers me. I'm not going to lie because it's not his fault. He's not the reason why. we love to put the blame on one person, but it takes 11 men, a team, and organization all together to win. Do you agree that it's not all on Eli, or do you want to do what most of us do and just blame everything on Eli?

I blame a good amount on Eli, but I think, look, you're starting to see the reason that O'Dell Beckham Jr. is wearing a Brown's uniform, right? You try and bench Eli Manning, sleeping with the fishes. That's what happened to the last coach, the last general manager. you say something negative about Eli Manning, we'll ship you to Cleveland even at the detriment of our own salary cap and all the money we spend.

So I think Seekoine Barclays walked in and anybody who's ever run into Seekoine Barclay, that's a smart cat, right? He gets it and he's like, even if I think he stinks and sometimes he has stunk. I'm not, like I've been here one year, this dude's been here for 15 and never missed a game.

I'm not saying a bad word about nothing. You guys want to throw him on the bus? Fine. And by the way, what is the win in throwing him under the bus? What is the win in it? There's no win in it. But more than anything, it's understanding the organization you work for is tied to Eli Manning at this point. Look, they're probably going to make a move. I would expect them to maybe trade for a Josh Rosen or draft a quarterback.

They're going to find his replacement. They're not blind, deaf, or dumb. On the other hand, just because we all know he needs to be replaced and that he's as close to over to Hill as possible, doesn't mean you need to state the obvious. Let somebody else say that. He might feel differently a few weeks into the season without OBJ, there's nine guys

in the box every play, and he's averaging 2.8 yards to carry, but for now he's fine with him. Calvin Watkins of the Athletic is reporting that the Cowboys current offer to defense event DeMarcus Lawrence would pay him $20 million a year for six years. Pretty large,

reasonable contract offer. Not good enough for DeMarcus Lawrence, though. apparently wants 22 and a half a year, roughly, reportedly. The Cowboys franchised him last month, but he has said he's not playing under the franchise tag again. That's what they did last year. Is he kind of being unreasonable? It sounds like he wants Khalil Mack money, and I liked Marcus Lawrence a lot, but he's not

Khalil Mack. Right. And remember, they have to, they've said we want to give our quarterback a new contract. Eventually you have to give Ezekieli a new contract. You know, you've got to work out Amari Cooper's new, a new contract. He's going to make $14 million. Like, so there's one of the problems with having good young players is they all want to get paid, right? It's not like Jerry Jones going to take this money and go like, hey, I saved $2 million on the $22.5.

You want him to put it in my pocket. No, you have to spread it around. So, look, it's negotiation. You know, Glavion's the only guy to really stand by that. I'm not playing on the franchise tag of second year and sit. I don't think that Marcus Lawrence is doing it. I think of ultimately it's just a game of chicken who will blink first. And I do think the Cowboys have several.

different guys to work with and to work through. In the meantime, you just go like, all right, you know, we're offering you top five money per year on a one-year deal. This is our rights to do so. And it's a very business-like approach. It felt like they traded for Robert Quinn yesterday a decent past. That felt almost like a negotiation tactic. Like, yeah, they kind of want Robert Quinn. They also lost David Irving, right?

But that hurt their leverage, right? You lose two defensive ends to off-the-field issues. Right. Now it's tougher having ground to stand on when you're arguing with your current defensive end. You bring in a Robert Quinn so you go, hey, if you sit out, we can get by for a little while without you. Well, look, I'm the only guy to sit here and tell you that the Cleo Mac trade was a good one and a smart one for the Raiders. It was a – it wasn't a good – it was great. You and the Sloan Conference.

And then the Sloan Conference backed me up. Sloan Conference voted the number one transaction this year. I believe in all of sports, not just in football. Yeah. From an analytics perspective. Sure. And to me, it was like, hey, he wants a new deal at $90 million, which we can't afford. And oh, yeah, by the way, we're not good anyway.

We'll get two first-round picks up, and no one had ever thought possible for a defense event. And they got it. Yeah. They got it. So the Cowboys are in win-now mode, right? So it's a little bit different when you're in win-now mode in terms of would you be willing to part ways with DeMarcus Lawrence. On the other hand, like, look, I guarantee if Jerry Jones said, hey, somebody want to give us two first-round picks, we'll make the move. but I just don't think anybody's going to do that.

I don't. So it's a game of chicken. Ultimately, I do believe that if the Cowboys stand firm, he will blink because $20 million guaranteed is $20 million guaranteed. And if he decides to sit this year, he will lose money that he'll never make up. That's just you have a little bit longer career as a defensive end, but not much longer than a running back.

And finally, time to see who's going places, sponsored by Toyota, let's go places. The Rockets are going places that they play defense like they did last night. They demolished the Nuggets, who were the second seed in the West, 112 to 85. Their head coach Mike Dantonie called it their best defensive effort of the season. Guard Austin Rivers said this after the game. We're going away.

We play like that. We play defense like that. We play defense like that. That's what we believe around here. Doug, Rockets actually have the NBA's second best defense since the All-Star break with a 105 defensive rating. Are they still the only team that can legitimately, beat the Warriors, if healthy?

Or they're the team with the best shot? Yeah. I mean, like, listen, if we look at snapshot of yesterday, sure. Didn't they just go to Miami? Didn't they take Joe of Milwaukee and get their ass kicked? Like, that did just happen, right? That was like two days ago. So, yes, they played really well against the Nuggets at home.

And I think most people in the NBA are like, Nuggets, great story, Yokit's great talent. They're way better than people thought. put them, and I even the, right now I want the blazers in my bracket because C.J. McCollum's been hurt and now they don't have Nerkitz for the rest of the year. Sure. They're basically Damien Lillard and a bunch of other stuff. They're just not what they should be full strength. So do I think the Rockets can beat them? No. On the other hand, yes, Chris Paul, James Hardin, that's Eric Gordon.

That style gives them the best shot. I don't think they're as good as they were last year. I'm also not convinced though that the Warriors are as good as they were last year. I don't think DeMarcus cousins make them better. And I don't know if they know what they're going to do end of game in the playoffs. They're going to play them. They're going to sit them. What are they going to do with Bogot?

What are they going to do with the bench? The bench is not as good. But look, I thought the Thunder would have a chance. The best way for the Warriors to go down is if they get stretched out in the first and second series and get worn down a little bit and then the rockets get them. The rockets would have a chance. And that's John Guley with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. There was a call last night in the Sweet 16 that gave us a glimpse into what the NFL is going to look like this season. That's right. basketball relates directly to a new rule in the national football league.

I'll share it with you upcoming next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. 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. straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the 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 beaders to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sportslice 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 Podcasts, 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've done enough because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now.

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of us. of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.

When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app.

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin and rising hockey star, Leila Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't.

Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world, like, I can do anything. I can, like, I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning.

It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Tomorrow, the season's biggest free agents hit the field with their new teams. First, Bryce Harper and the Phillies take on Freddie Freeman and the Braves. Then the Giants face off against Manny Machado and the Padres. It all starts at 4 Eastern 1 Pacific on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. MDrive is a supplement I use every day

and you should consider it too. If you want to feel stronger, have more energy and drive. Now is the time to start taking MDrive. Learn more. Visit MDrive for Men. Visit MDrive for Men.com. Refind your Prime with MDrive.

I'm Doug Gottliebilling in for Colin Cowherd. And I think the reaction to the NFL changing the replay rules where you can either challenge calls or non-calls on pass interference, or, of course, under two minutes, they can review calls or non-calls on past interference, judgment calls, if you will, has been met generally with, okay, well, they saw the problem, and they tried to fix the problem, right? There's a certain pragmatism to it where you're like, look, you can be dug in all you want,

but this was clearly a mistake, and we made a fix. But there are, there's a law of unintended consequences, right? the intended consequences of this type of rule are to get it right. That's it. To always get it right. To take a snap judgment out of the hands of an official and put it in the hands of somebody who is removed from the field of play, removed from the officiating crew, and just can look at it and view it and see it and rule on it in a timely fashion where they have,

instead of just having two eyes, they can have 20. Makes sense, right? And in truth, the idea of having an official using their eyes to make calls in games of this speed, this quickness, this explosiveness, do you know what the most unreliable testimony in a courtroom is? Right? Like, we're taught by some of our leaders and by conspiracy theorists to not trust science. but scientific fact, 97% is a scientific fact.

When there's DNA evidence and it's one in a billion, one in a trillion, that means that's the guy, right? The least reliable testimony is eyewitness testimony. It just is. You ever seen the TV show Brain Games? You understand?

The Brain Games? And one of the Brain Games episodes, they'll have somebody come and they'll be talking to people and somebody will come and steal somebody's wallet and watch right before everybody's eyes. And then, hey, describe what they walked, what they wrote in on what, and everybody's got it. No one actually remembers correctly. Why? Because eyewitness testimony is in fact the least trustworthy testimony.

It just is. Cooperating evidence is actually more accurate. It just is. So if we really want perfect, then you kind of have to take the human element completely out of the sport. But since we're not willing to do that, we're going to try and perfect something, which is imperfect, but really, really good, which is NFL officiating. I was watching the Sweet 16 last night. Tennessee was taking on Purdue. Purdue had a huge lead. Tennessee comes storing back, actually took the lead late.

They're up two points. and that's when Carson Edwards gets the ball in the corner, shoots a three-point shot, and appears to get fouled. Now, this comes on the back, on the back of Carson Edwards driving to the basket, and the ball gets deflected, and from one replay angle looked like it might have gone off his leg.

But if you look, and I thought they did a good job on the game, saying, hey, look, when that ball gets deflected, if you look at a different angle and you look at the fact that the ball doesn't move, doesn't change trajectory. It's Purdue basketball. So what do they have to do? They have to go to the monitor

and there's like a five-minute review. And oh yeah, by the way, Purdue gets a timeout. That they didn't earn. They just drove to the basket and Grant Williams, the star for Tennessee, deflects the basketball clean and it should have been Purdue's basketball out of bounds. Now, did it give Tennessee a chance

to set their deal? defense, yes, but it gave Purdue a chance to draw up a play. And this is exactly what is going to happen in the National Football League under two minutes. You remember they have to review not just penalties, but non-penalties on pass interference. What's one of the magic to the National Football League is, hey, how many timeouts do you have? When do you ground the football? Do you get out of bounds? Do you throw it over the middle? This totally changes the sport. Forget about the fact that NFL guys like, wait a second. Al Riveron? in New York who we don't trust to make calls anyway

is going to make calls on our game. And in super slow-mo, past interference sometimes looks like it always occurs. There's always contact before a play. Do we really want to call a split-second contact right beforehand? I mean, honestly, the Ram Saints game,

even though it was an error, it was also one, a bad throw, and two, it all depends upon where your camera angle was. You know, that Fox camera, that was behind the play. Behind the play, it looks like, wow, what an incredibly blown call. When it's even with that angle right there, if you're watching on Fox Sports One, I can't believe they miss that call. But if you look at where the judge, where the side judge was, equal with the play, it was bang, bang, it was right as the football arrives. And oh yeah, by the way, it was a bad throw by Drew Breeze

was thrown over the middle when it should have been thrown to his outside shoulder or back shoulder. But the bigger point is this. Say you have no timeouts and you're under a minute to go and you throw a football and a play like that, it's not past interference, but they have to review it. Guess what you get, free timeout? So in addition to the fact that it's really hard to watch games in person where there's all kinds of untimely delays,

forget about the fact that it screws up the actual rhythm of a football game allows everybody to catch their breath. Just the idea that it gives you a timeout that you didn't earn. That's what happened to Purdue last night. Now, they're able to benefit and get fouled on a three-point shot and make two free throws and then go into overtime and win the basketball game

but that review, the process of that review while it's the, and you can sit there go, all you got to do is put a time limit on it. Why? You started with the premise of we put this rule in to get it right. Why not take the time and get it right? And I'm not sitting here saying that replay doesn't work and that we haven't had blown calls

that could have been fixed. Patriots, it looked like a fumble against the Kansas City Chiefs. Did it not? Julie Nettlement covering a punt. Look like it hit his hand. Look like he hit his thumb. Then when you get the right review, right angle,

you're like, oh, okay. No fumble. When it comes to plays of judgment, bang, bang plays where there's always contact. Forget about the fact that sometimes the offense pushes off to create space and the defense closes up that space. Are we going to go back and call a penalty

in the offense? Forget about all that. Dude, five minutes. For a timeout you didn't earn? The Lakers need to do one thing, just one thing to change their culture. I'll tell you what it is next. I'm Doug Gottlie. This is The Herd.

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. 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 life. 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, the 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in 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've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir Gaines, is where you.

We have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud.

But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them

and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA standout, Kate Martin, and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it.

An Olympic champs, Gabby Thomas, and Katie Ladeki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything.

I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. What up? Welcome in.

This is the Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be making it as part of your day. Thank you so much. Whether it's Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports One, the IHeart Radio app. I'm Doug Gottlie, pulling in for Colin Cowherd. Man, we've got a great third and final hour of a Friday show, getting ready for whoop. The only man alive who thinks Tom Brady is lucky and Tom is overrated is our old crazy uncle, Rob Parker.

He'll join me up coming in a couple of moments here. an actual discussion that's taking place in the NBA front offices that TV otherwise would not tell you. Plus, what's in store for Bryce Harper this year after a kind of nondescript first day at the yard in a Phillies uniform? And wait to you hear what we got for you best for last year to conclude this week in the herd. I'm Doug Gottlieb. Quick programming note. Love for you to download my All Ball podcast. That's available on the Heard Podcast Network.

It's, this week's is a really, really, really good one. And it's because one, I did it. And I'm pretty proud of it. This week we did focus a ton on college basketball. Travis Steele, Xavier's first year head coach was my guest. Long discussion with him over, not just college hoops, but his background. Growing up in the state of Indiana, I think you'll like it. It's called the All Ball podcast, part of the Heard Podcast Network.

I was told a long time ago that the smartest guy in the room usually says the least, right? there's the old adage you have two ears in one mouth listen more and speak less or maybe here's the here's the more effective parallel be a ninja dad ninja dad to do the herd we usually meet a couple hours for the show and i don't live right next to the studio so i like to get up super early in the morning but if i get up in the morning my dog gets up with me And he wants to go to the park. And I have a couple of chores. Take him to the park. Get myself some coffee. Get my wife a chai. Come back.

And listen, if he hears me in my room or in any other room in the house, he's not trying. He's clomping around on the wood floor. Now, the way to be a ninja dad even with that dog, is to take off his collar the night before, to take your keys and put it close to the door. to make sure you have socks on because no matter how quiet you think you are with bare feet, you're much quieter with socks on.

Make sure you're not wearing the type of pants that slosh. Shh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, even when you pick up your keys, don't pick them up like this. Grab the keys with your hand softly. If you're going to brush your teeth, sorry, dude, you're going to spit, but you've got to do it quietly and you can't wash the spit out. That's part of the deal. Don't flush the toilet. No matter how gross your wife.

thinks it is, the second you flush the toilet, the dog is up, the dog is up, the kids are up, the kids are up, the wife is up, and nobody's happy. Instead, you'll be a ninja dad. Get outside, get in the car, close the door, roll down the street, and you're on your way. They're asleep. You're relatively happy. You didn't have to take the dog to the park, and you get on your way to work. Now, the Lakers are the guy that forgets to take the collar off, forgets to turn off the alarm. So they open up the door. The Lakers are the guy that picks up the keys.

The wake up, your alarm goes off. Not once, but they press news. Then it goes off twice. In case anyone wasn't awake, everybody's awake. Every move they have made, they have telegraphed. Right? Boy, actually, there's an analogy that maybe needs refining.

Does anybody know what a telegraph is? Is there anybody alive that actually has used? a telegraph anymore. A telegraph was something that used to send out, you'd tell somebody else and they would use some sort of Morris Code and send along the lines back from World War II. That's what the

Lakers have done. From who they were going to acquire in the offseason to potential trades during the season to now potential hires for next season. They haven't even fired Luke Walden and there's already, well, we want Doc. No, we want somebody else. No, we want Rick Carlisle.

We want this. No, everyone knows their moves beforehand. It's almost like they're playing cards, but instead of the cards looking at them, the cards are facing everybody else. See? See? I kind of got close to a full house. No, you have one ace.

They just need to do everything in the shadows, like every other NBA team. Remember when the clippers are going to trade Blake Griffin? Was there any warning? Nope. When the clippers traded Chris Paul for like 15 players. Any warning? Nope.

when they traded Tobias Harris. Like, don't tell me it's L.A. The Clippers have operating the shadows, and no one knew. The Knicks traded Christophezzas. The same day, he said he wanted to be traded, he was traded. There wasn't this buildup, wasn't this nonsense? They just need one mouth, two ears. Listen more, operating the shadows, being ninja dads.

You want to change your culture? First thing you can do is stop sharing your information. with people who are going to leak it to the media. Everybody wants to be important. Everybody wants to share their story. Everybody wants to see it on the bottom line, whether it's Woge or Broussard, or whoever it is. Shams.

Oh, I'm going to text this guy and get my story out. No, no, no, no. Shut it down. Get into your bunker. Make your moves. And don't let anybody knew they're going to happen until they've already happened. That's how we signed Rob Parker, right? No one knew Rob Parker was coming over.

till we got him. Now he's got his own radio show, The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard. He's our crazy uncle. He joins us in the herd. What's happening? Now, I will point out that Rob, IG's out before every appearance, so it's not like it's a surprise. I do like to put it out there, you know, social media. It is. There is one thing to leave breadcrumbs,

but they leave pork chops so everybody can kind of follow them. Why are the Lakers so easy to, why do they have such bad tells as to what they're doing? You know what? And Chris Bussar brought this up, and I believe him, that because they lost out on Paul George, and you remember they took for granted, basically, that he was coming. The word for two years was Paul George wants to play for the Lakers.

So they didn't really go after him. They didn't pursue him. It was kind of like a foregone conclusion. Well, they didn't even get a meeting with him, to be honest. Because he declined a meeting with Magic. But I'm saying because it was kind of a laissez-faire attitude towards that, Now they want to let everybody know. Anthony Davis, we want you.

We're going after Anthony Davis. We'll give up anybody, anything just to get them. So now it's like, you're right. Everything is on front street. Everything is out there, and I think that they're mishandling it. The whole front office and the way things have been handled, total disaster. And here we are. Lakers out of the playoffs.

Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see how they fix it if they're able to fix it. Doug, I don't think they'll be able to fix it because I don't see a star player joining LeBron James. And I also don't see the Pelicans wanting to make a deal with the Lakers. I just don't see it. They will look everywhere, high and far, anybody else because the Lakers came to steal their player so they don't want to make a deal with them. I listen, that sounds good, but if they offer, you know, three young starters and draft picks, if they offer the kitchen sink, I think you're

going to end up. From the starters that just couldn't make the playoffs, couldn't beat the bulls and calves? No, I'm talking about when they lost to the bulls and calves. Those guys were healthy. No, they didn't, no. They didn't have. They haven't had Lonzo Ball. Oh, Lonzo's a different. He's the reason why they're out of the playoffs? Well, I think it's a big reason they're out of the playoffs is they're not healthy. When they were healthy, they were a playoff team

at least. Okay. Did they have a chance to make the playoffs when LeBron came back from his injury? Yes. And did they lose to the Hawks and New Orleans without AD? Yes. And to Memphis? And to the sons? Yes. Yes. I'm not disputing any of that. I'm not, look, I'm not

disputing the change isn't needed. But I think, I think honestly, the parts are going to change out. Many of the parts are going to change out are actually the good parts. I'll bet you chicken wings right here right now that New Orleans will not make a deal with the league. And you're probably right. Like, look, you've got all kinds of different factors working

against you. You know, who you're going to hire as your head coach if you fire Luke Walton? By the way, Luke was doing a good job before LeBron got hurt. Luke will be fired. Okay, but we all agree Luke's going to be fired. If you hire Ty Lou, who's seen as a LeBron guy, you run into the same thing they've run into before, which is a lot of guys like,

look, I don't necessarily, I'm not team LeBron. I'm not rep by Rich Paul. You know, other agents don't want to do business there. It becomes trickier. So then you get, and even if you rebuild it around what they did, for example, in Cleveland, right, where you put all shooters, you know, you had Kevin Love, and you had, when they won, they had Kyrie Irving, which is another star. Sure.

So even if you rebuild it around LeBron with shooters, you're depending on LeBron to be the same LeBron of two or three years ago. And he's not that guy. And that's the best point because I think that's where everybody thought LeBron is just going to be LeBron. Even though the numbers Doug are still there, right? 28, 8 and 8 or whatever it is, 27, 8 and 8, they're not the same impactful numbers that they used to be to me.

They don't, LeBron, in years gone by, he would be able to beat the Sons in Memphis almost by himself. He can't do it anymore. No, look, he's statistically dominant, but if you watch the game, there's many, many plays in which he takes off, and he doesn't look like the same athlete. Who is the same athlete with that much tread worn off the tires?

We'll see if he loses weight, if he can transform himself, if the extra time off helps him. But I'm generally with you. Guys don't get, like, we all operate like, well, it's going to be the same old LeBron. No one's the same at 34, 35 that they were at 30. They just, it doesn't exist unless you're going to, you know, do what baseball players did and use steroids, you know,

going back a decade ago. Zion Williamson's going to play tonight. I have an opinion. of him. I'd love yours. I think he's a fantastic player. I think people have gone off the rails with this prisoner of the moment that he should be in the Hall of Fame tomorrow, and he's a top 50, top 20 player in the NBA. He's a man amongst boys in college, and I think until we see him come to the pros and play against other players more on his level, we really don't know. And Doug, I can go back on and on and on about the great college players.

who didn't transfer over. Am I saying he's going to be a boss or he's not a great player? I'm not saying that. But Christian Leitner might be a top five college player of all time when you add it all up. And he was also ran into pros who went to one All-Star game

and is probably more famous for getting punched in the mouth by Jerry Stackhouse than anything else he did in the NBA. So I'm just saying, and he won two titles in college for Duke and is author of a couple of fantastic finishes and moments in college basketball. Well, look, hold on, first of all, just in full disclosure, Christian Leitner should not have been on the dream team. He was.

But I know. But if you're an all-star, you're not an all-ser-ranos NBA player. He's an all-so-ran. As far as where people thought his career was going to be. Okay. That's all I'm saying. Here's what's going for Zion, which wouldn't have been going for Zion, if you go back to when Christian Leitner was coming out, right?

is that if you go back 15 years ago, he would have had to become a small forward power forward. Now he can do exactly what he's doing at Duke in the NBA. Be a power forward who can handle the ball and also play small ball five. He's the same size as Draymond Green. He's got crazy athleticism. He has a high basketball cue.

Look, I think he's going to be a terrific pro. So do I. Terrific pro. I'm not doubting that at all. I don't think he's a top 20 player right now in the world or maybe even top 50 player, because look, college basketball is way more watered down than it's been. And he's really, he's great, but he is a man playing against boys, men playing against men. It's a completely different story.

The question that NBA people are asking is, do you take John Morant over him because John Moran? Maybe even R.J. Barrett. I wouldn't take Barrett over him, but Morant plays the style that you want a lead guard to play. And much like quarterbacks in the NFL, they have more value. When you handle the ball every time down the court, you have a little. more value than when you're a small ball four, small ball five. Would you shun conventional wisdom, which says take Zion Williamson, sell out every place in every seat in your arena, and would you take John Moran?

Well, the problem is, you know, it's a business. And who is this? Who's selling tickets? NCA ratings are up 8%. I get all that. And if you're a GM making that gutsy call, you better make sure you can get that right. because if you don't take him and he winds up being that guy that they're all claiming he is, it'll be a blunder.

So I would be stunned if anybody was man enough to not take him with the first overall pick, whether or not. And don't forget, you know, there were GMs who took Elijah Wan and Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, right? Because they normally go after the bigger guys. Yeah. I mean, look, but this is not a bigger guy. It's a smaller guy. But yes, look, it's if you, you better, if you take John Rand over him, you better make sure you get it.

You nail it. You got to nail it. You have to. Your job is done. Well, yes, because you have to tell your owner, hey, man, I know we were going to make a whole bunch of money off of the court. But I got a better player. I want to ask you about Bryce Harper last night. Bryce Harper, O of 3, did have a walk, did score, run.

But considering the contract, considering the hype, I understand. It's just baseball. It's just day one. You know it's one game and you can't get too caught up on an 0 for 3. But this is it. And I know people, some people are pushing back on Philly fans. First of all, the scene, Doug, was unbelievable with the crowd for him. I mean, the thing that they've done in Philly is amazing. We know he signed a $330 million contract.

But here's the other thing. The Philly sold 100,000 tickets in 24 hours after he was signed, which is an incredible number of tickets. He also outsold LeBron's L.A. L.A. L. Laker jersey with his name on it, online after he signed with Harper signed with Philly. And now he's also passed Aaron Judge for the highest selling jersey in Major League Baseball, which tells you this is a guy who moves the needle.

And they're going to be those bad nights where he strikes out two or three times. They'll be those big home run nights. The Phillies have a really good team. Maybe the pitching isn't as good as some of the other teams, but their lineup is solid. I'm telling you, this is a good thing for baseball, good thing for Bryce Harper, and Philadelphia fans are as passionate as they get. They booed him after he struck out his second time in the debut. I get it, but they'll also the next inning cheer him like there's no tomorrow if he gets a big home run or gets a big hit. All right. Last thing, NFL executive, unnamed NFL executives.

It says, dangerous president we're setting with Antonio Brown being traded, demanding a trade. missing week 17 of the NFL. What's your reaction to that story? How long has this executive been in the league? Because this has been going on forever. I remember John Elway not wanting to go to Baltimore. I'm going to play for the Yankees. I'm not going.

How about Eli Manning was supposed to go to the Chargers, told him that he wasn't going? That's before a season. They ever played a down. No, but I'm still saying, but he forced his way out of going to where the charges wanted him. No, I understand, but it's different when you're in the middle of a season and then you're under contract. You've been well compensated. Like, Antonio Brown hasn't been, this was Antonio Brown wanting a guaranteed contract, by the way.

This was all like, this was all about. He didn't have any guaranteed money left. I don't have any, I don't have a problem with the play. Why? He negotiated the contract. He signed that contract. It's a bad contract. Do teams break contracts?

Yes, they do it all the time, Doug. What do you mean if they break contracts? Yeah, they signed a contract with a certain amount of guaranteed money. Yes. Or they say you're too highly paid and you need to take a pay cut in order to stay on the roster. Right. And if they cut you and you decide not to resign, you can go sign elsewhere and get a new contract. I get it, but they also can get out of the deal that you did sign with them because they want to get out. They can get out.

You can't get out if you want to. It's all based upon the contract that you sign. No, it's a bad contract. No, you sign the contract. It's the CBA. I'm just saying it's bad. But again, you're arguing about a team signing a contract. Like, that's the contract that you signed.

By the way, Antonio Brown's deal was reworked while he was under contract previously. I have no problem with a person. First of all, as a team, I don't want anybody who doesn't want to be there. So that's first of all. Somebody doesn't want to be there. You want to keep your wife into marriage if she doesn't want to be there? It's completely different when you're under contract. No, you signed a commitment with her.

You had a commitment, didn't you? Yes, but it's not a marriage. This is a place of employment. It's a contractual marriage. No, it's not. It's a place of employment. This is. This is totally different.

This isn't working at the burger shack. This is totally different. It's the exact same thing. You sign a contract to work for a team. You can't go like, hey, you know what? Things are, I don't like my quarterback. I'm like, dude, what are you talking about? You are the one who signed the deal that had three more years on it.

Nobody forced you. No, put a gun to your head to have you signed that deal ever. You did not. Okay. And he was the one who bailed on his team in week 17 of the season. He showed up. They didn't want to play him. He was there.

He showed up they didn't want to play him. He didn't show up to practice. Doug, all I'm saying is I'm about players. players right to if you want out and a team won't listen to you when you go and say, can you please trade me? I don't want to be here anymore. He had $21 million in dead cap money.

But it wasn't guaranteed. Right. So it hurts the team to trade him. If you didn't have that, they would have gladly gotten rid of him. Last thing. So let's get this straight. You defend Antonio Brown, his actions.

Only guy in America to do that. Okay. You think that Tom Brady is the luckiest of all time, right? The lot. The lot. Do you go? The lot. And you think Tom iso's wild. He's won one championship in 20 years.

He's at Michigan State. Okay. He is not at Duke. He's not Carolina. But he's gone to the final four. Go look at his record against the elite programs in the United States. Doug, is it good or bad? Well, I mean, all depends.

No, it's a good. Does he have the players that they have at Duke at Carolina at Kentucky? If you can get to the final four and you can get to these championships, you know, get into these games. And that's the oldest excuse in the world. Well, kind of kind of hard. Ben Howland got there three years in row at UCLA. Didn't win one. But it's a won a championship.

And all I'm saying is, in order for him to be considered one of the all-time great coaches, he has to win another one. He won 600 games. He won the Big Ten and Big Ten tournament after losing. Very nice. As Tom is or does he need to win another championship to solidify his career? He'll tell you that. He would say I'd like to.

No, he tells you he wants to. He needs to. He's crazy uncle, Rob Parker. Check out the odd couple, which is on at 7 o'clock Eastern, 4 o'clock Pacific, along with a very sane, very sensible, Chris Bressart. It's a really, really good. show. Thanks, Doug.

Should Zion William Symbier, Locke is the number one overall pick. We'll discuss that next in The Hurt. 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. Thursday, the countdown to the Cup continues on FS1. As Alex Morgan and Megan Rapino lead the U.S. Women's National Team against fellow World Cup contender, Australia.

Catch all the action Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern on FS1 and the Fox Sports app. Car shopping, giving me confusing terms like dealer price, list price, and invoice price. True car shows you what other people in your area pay for the car that you want, so you can recognize a good price when you're ready to buyer a newer used car. Visit true car. You'll enjoy more confident car buying experience. Doug Gottlieb in for Colin. This is in fact the herd.

Brian Chow tweets me. At Gottlieb Show is my Twitter handle. Hey, at Gottlieb show, how come players are the only ones who have to honor their contract? If an organization signs someone to a six-year, $100 million contract, then cuts them after three years. why is this okay? Well, they are honoring the contract. It all depends on what the details of the contract are. Whatever money they're owed, if you get cut, you get paid.

And then if you're on the market, you can sign a new contract. That's the way it works. Unless, of course, you have offset at which point in time that they don't have to pay, and NFL players don't have offset most of their deals, that's something that's negotiated. Look, you've been lied to for a long time, and I'm just here to not lie to you. That's what it is. This whole BS that NFL players don't. have guaranteed contract. Yes, they do. It all depends upon how much and how long their

guarantees are for. First round draft picks contracts are 100% guaranteed. And whatever the dollar figure at the end of it is, and even if players don't actually get that dollar figure, they don't have to sign for that dollar figure. They can sign a three-year short-term deal with whatever money. But the ego gets involved, the ego of the agent gets involved. Hell, Earl Thomas is a perfect example. Do you know that Earl Thomas got every penny of his contract that he was due with the Seattle Seahawks? Every penny. Even the non-guaranteed last year. Got it. And now he's a member of the Baltimore Ravens. When his time was up, even though he gave a finger, literally, to his own sideline, he got a new deal. That's the way it works. Players aren't the only ones who have to live up to their

contracts. Everybody has to live up to their contracts. That's why they exist. It's why there's lawyers that contract lawyers. It's all they do. It sounds like an incredibly interesting and boring job all at the same time. Their job is to look through fine-tooth comb and if they work for the employer, what's the least amount we can pay him? And they work for the employee, what's the most we can get out of this deal when the deal is done? That's how it works. I have a contract. I have to live up to it. Fox has a contract with me. They have to live up to those terms. You have an option, you're in your deal.

If you are under contract, that you have to live by that contract. And if you don't like it, don't take it up with the NFL. Take it up with the, the CBA with your own union. But there's a lot of people, a lot of misinformation out there.

NFL players absolutely have guaranteed contracts. They're not guaranteed as long as some other sports, but hey it's not like like look the best baseball players are making 30 million a year right 32 33 million dollars a year how much is how much is Aaron Rogers making the same amount I mean you know Kirk Cousins is making 86 million dollars over three years and he is a middle of the road to top 12 quarterback right three years guaranteed he doesn't have those extra years but he had already made 20 million each of the

as a franchise taggie. You do the math. $120 million over five years in any sport. It's really good money. And it was all guaranteed. And of course you can't guarantee a 10-year deal like you can baseball. Because in football, you're one play away from

never playing the sport ever again. And that doesn't happen in baseball. And oh yeah, by the way, you don't play a hundred sixty-two games. And oh, yeah, by the way, you don't have your own local TV deal and TV networks the way they do in baseball, it's a completely different business model and a different union. That's why the contracts are worded differently. Oh yeah, by the way, Aaron Judge, one of the great players in baseball, made $600,000 last year in his fifth year as a pro. That's real. That actually happened. You know why? Because that's how their deal is collectively bargained upon. If you don't like it,

take it up with your union. Not with your boss. Let's get the John Goulet with the news. This is the herd line news. So the San Francisco 49ers were linked to a couple big name receivers this offseason, Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown, because they have a ton of cap space and they need a receiver and they have a lot of draft capital. Well, today 49ers GM John Lynch confirmed on KMBR in San Francisco. The team did check in on the price for Odell Beckham Jr. But the Giants actually wanted the second overall pick, which the Niners have,

and they couldn't come to an agreement. Here's what Lynch said. I think, ironically, the fact that we had the number two pick made it more difficult because they wanted that badly. They wanted two number ones. And we weren't one of the part with that. That's too valuable of a pick, even for a player at his magnitude. So we tried to come up with creative different ways to get it done. And it didn't work up.

And so you move on. You think the Niners are going to regret not maybe trying to get that deal done? No. No, I think he's great. But they would have been locked into his contract. And they already have Jimmy Garoppolo's contract. And you're better off probably trading out of that two spot. If you don't draft, if Nick Bosa is available, you draft Nick Bosa.

You know, you can draft a wide receiver. He's not going to be as good as Odell Beckman Jr., but he's going to cost you a whole heck of a lot less. Like, look, I think they kick the tires on it. I think they wanted to be creative and they want to be smart, but they understand that the number two pick is not just valuable because the player you're getting because it's under a rookie deal, which is not what he's playing in a second deal.

It all comes down to kind of balance down. Can we put a whole team around Jim? me Garapola. Yeah, it makes sense if they didn't, if they hadn't paid Garapolo yet, but they did. So you have to operate like you have a big, even though he hasn't played much, he's an expensive veteran quarterback. Correct. Correct. It's College Hoops Time, sponsored by Guinness.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Brewers of Guinness. Zion Williamson probably has the most pressure of any player in the NCAA tournament, but it apparently doesn't get to Zion. He was asked if he feels the pressure to have a big game every night. Not at all.

I don't really feel the pressure in for the monster again, I don't feel pressure. They have to have that every game. Because we have a lot of talented players on this team. Whoever has the hot hand, that's who's going to have that monster night. And, you know, we all have the same thing on our minds, and that's winning. He seems to always say the right thing. Doesn't he?

Yeah. Duke, Virginia Tech tonight, Doug. Does Virginia Tech have a shot? I think they do have a shot. I mean, remember Virginia Tech beat him. Obviously, signed in play. They have Justin Robinson, who wasn't playing as well, the point guard for Virginia Tech. I think Buzz Williams is a tremendous

coach. They have an older team. They have veteran players. And look, Duke has some limitations. They're the worst three-point shooting team in the entire field. Not just the field remaining, the entire field. Yep. And they really only have three guys that can score, and Cam Reddish is

up, down, up, down, up down. I do think Duke finds a way to win the game, but I think it's an exceptionally close, hard-fought game. And as great as Zion was. Great as Zion was. He did miss what would have been a game tying free throw.

And look, I hate calling charges when a guy drives and somebody falls down, but that's the way it's been called in the entire NCAA tournament for every other team. And then there was a push in the back, and there was a hook and hole. There was a bunch of things that had to go the way of Duke in order for Duke to beat

Central Florida. And I think Virginia Tech's better than Central Florida. I think it's a really competitive game that Duke finds a way to eke out, but they're limited in their shooting, and they really only have three guys that can score. Does Virginia Tech have a 7-foot-6 guy, though? Because that seemed to give Duke a lot of problems. No, but they do have a talented rim protector.

Gotcha. So, look, they're constructed very, very differently. And there's only one Taco Fall. Right. But if you've seen Carrie Blackshire play, Carrie Blackshire is 6'10, good rim protector, big body. And look, Louisville nearly beat him, and they don't have as great, they don't have seven foot six.

Taco Fall. Other teams have beaten them. You've got to not turn the basketball over. That's like number one. If you don't turn it over, it's a lot like Michigan last night for Texas Tech. If you don't turn it over, they can't beat you. You don't turn it against Duke. You make them playing the half court, make them make jump shots. I only take one shot. You got yourself a great chance.

And finally, Doug, I know you're a big baseball fan. A little bit of a lack of buzz, I would say, in L.A. around the Dodgers coming into the season. Two straight World Series losses. They didn't sign Harper. They traded away some players. Well, that changed real quick yesterday. The Dodgers had an opening day record eight home runs against the Diamondbacks and a 12-5 win.

Six different guys homered for the Dodgers and not just the power hitters. There was like utility guys going deep. Are they still the favorite in the NL? Are they going to a third straight world series most likely? I felt like it was Oprah Winfrey going like, and you get a homer, and you get a homer. Everybody gets a home run. And it was off of Zach Grinky too, 4. the Dodger, who took a big paycheck.

I think so. I just don't know about their pitching, right? Like Walker Bueller, who doesn't like him, and then if Clayton Kershaw returns to anywhere near the form as your number two, and I would guess that they're willing to absorb a contract, a bigger contract somewhere mid-season. Like pitching is very much an issue as is, you know, what kind of Kenley Janssen you're going to get?

He was never really the same after the heart issue last year. But you get Corey Seeger back. They do have a load of talent. I still think they're the favorite. Like, I'm looking around and you still get Phillies National. Why aren't the nationals considering they're pitching even without Bryce Harper? They should be in the discussion. Brewers with Yelich.

Yeah, I'd still say they're the favorite. That's the news. And that's John Goulet with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Herd Lie News. I was thinking of this. You know, in our lifetime, it's really hard to explain things to a child.

Like when you say a beeper, right? Like, do you guys remember beepers? Did anybody have a beeper? I had a beeper in college. Right? And you'd have different codes for different people to page you, you know, in terms of, like, I remember having, I actually am old enough. This is where you know you're old.

Before we had call waiting. Before you had call waiting. But trying to explain to a kid. what a payphone is. Oh my gosh, there's a pay phone. Like, what's a pay phone? Well, it's what we used to use before there's a cell phone before we had pagers, but somebody would call you,

or after we had pager, but somebody call you and page you, and then you'd pick it up, and then you would call them and leave your number, then they'd call you back. You're like, what, that sounds ridiculous. Like, yeah. Seems complicated. It is complicated. We're watching the NCAA tournament.

Do we realize it hasn't even been a decade in which we, we've been able to watch it on all the games on multiple channels. Right? Like, I remember distinctly yelling at the TV before I worked for CBS. Why did they just change the game? Or why won't they? It seemed like there was one guy in New York that was just messing with all the rest of us.

Wait, wait, wait, this one's getting good. Let's take it out to Salt Lake City, where Gonzaga and Columbia are just underway. You're like, well, no, no, I want that one. in our lifetime, and not even, you don't even made that old. Was it 2003 we had split national champions in football? Imagine explaining that to a kid these days. Like, yeah, we used to have two national champions. Oh, that must have been back in like the 30s and 40s.

Like, no, it was 2003. We had split national champions. Wait, there were two teams that called themselves the best in college football. Yes. Was one central Florida? No. These teams actually were considered co-national champions. and it was just like seven years ago where you couldn't forget about the phone

where you can watch it now you couldn't watch all the games I don't think the kids or they don't understand how good they have it all right coming up there are rumors that Gronk could be headed to the WWE I'm going to tell you what other famous athletes I would love to see as pro wrestlers that's next in the best for last 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. Great news is a quick and easy way. You could save money. Switch to Geico. Save. It only takes 15 minutes. And you could save 15% or more in your car insurance. Go to Geico.com and see how much you could save.

Doug Gottlieb in for Colin. This is The Herd. Man, what a great show we've had. My thanks to Matt Barnes. Jeff. Goodman, Rob crazy uncle, Rob Parker, who joined me earlier. But you know, there's still more to do. Matter of fact, we have actually saved the best for last. It's almost the end of the show, but that doesn't mean we're phoning it in. Nope, we grind to the very last segment. It's time for best for last.

There is some speculation that Rob Grunkowski, Grunk, who of course recently retired in the NFL, could join the WWE as a pro wrestler. Now, two years ago, two years ago, he was actually at WrestleMania 33. Do you guys remember that? Do we have the tape of that? I believe we do. He was amazing. So, Gronk has everything it takes to be a great pro wrestler, right?

I mean, he's got the look. First, he's tall, I mean, he's huge, six foot six. He's got the body. He's got the personality. He's got the strength. And he's already got a great nickname. He's already kind of a known commodity. Right?

WrestleMania 33. came out of the stands. He tears off the shirt. He's got the ribbed tank. I'm not allowed to say what we all call the rib tank, the rib tank. Got it. Comes out, gets into a three-point stance. Ginger Mahal's in there.

He comes, I did, just look, and he showed great blocking for him, which is interesting because he became a great blocker. It was known as a great blocker here late in his career. So we thought we would find five other pro athletes. one retired and four still playing that we'd love to see in a WrestleMania WWE ring. You guys ready for it?

All right, cool. Number one, he's a former patriot and he would look great in a ring, in some overalls, and if his victory dance was the same dance he did when he was barbecuing, when he was grilling, down in Houston,

who wouldn't cheer and do the Vince Will for him? dance. Big Vince. Vince Wilfork? He lettered in wrestling in high school, weighs in a slim 325 pounds, or at least last time he was weighed. Great personality, super entertaining. Give me Vince Wolfork post-retirement, right? All right, here's another one. We need personality. We need strength. We need athleticism. We need a nickname. How about Pueg? Now, it's not a nickname, but Yassiel Pueig, bat liquor, right? He could come in with his bat. Yassiel Pueig built like a football player.

And he does have a good nickname. Remember Vin Skeli called him the Wild Horse? How good would the Wild Horse be? You don't have to watch WW to go like, hey, the Wild Horse Yassie L Puig is going to wrestle against Vince Wilford. Like, I'm in. How do I see that? And I do like the idea of a bat in the ring.

Okay, here's one. Lance Stevenson. Got personality, got nickname, Born Ready. He's a skilled trash talker. He's an all-around agitator. And he can make him dance Lance, right? I mean, you know, he goes top rope. He gets a guy in the ground and he starts dancing.

Or maybe he makes a move and you fall down. Who was it? Was it Jeff Green the other night? Who he stepped on his foot? Yeah. Think of what he did to Jeff Green the other night, what he could do to a professional wrestler. Born ready, great nickname, great personality, good body, good dance, good athlete, Lance Stevenson.

All right, here's one. D.K. Medcaf. Now, if you don't know who D.K. Metcalf is, and you're now watching on Fox Sports 1, you're like, dude, he looks like the after picture for every workout video. D.K. Metcalf is one of the top wide receivers in this year's NFL draft. He's out of Ole Miss. He looks like David Boston, the former wide receiver, only no hint of steroids. the way David Boston was on steroids.

Like, that's, if you go to your trainer, you go, make me look like that. 6.4.2.30. And when he takes his shirt off, he scares all the dudes and makes all the women swoon. And then number five, here's the guy we really want to see in the ring. Great nickname, Big Sexy. Could be the greatest wrestler ever, right? I think he's kind of an underrated athlete. Bartolo Colon.

weighs in a slim 285 or he's a 285 list and I think he's like 5 foot 11 plus he's already got the dual family thing going do you guys remember that story right where he was defending himself so he after football after baseball he's going to need the money

but he's like 42 years young big sexy Bartolo Cologne not the body but hey not every wrestler has to be built like D.K. Metcalf Big sexy Bartolo Colon DK Matcalfe. Metskaventcalf Lance Stevenson, Yassiel Pug, Vince Wilfork,

should join Rob Gruncowski in WrestleMania. And that's the best for last. All right, we got college hoop games tonight. You got all the big boys playing, right? Kentucky, who I think they have the toughest challenge because Kentucky takes on a Houston team that is game. They have a deep squad. They are fearless, and you may think they're playing on house money,

but Houston does not. And what do they do with PJ Y? Washington, does that screw him up trying to work him in when he didn't play last weekend? I think that's going to be a great game. That's why it's such a close spread. I think LSU gives Michigan State all they can handle. I think LSU is just so much more athletic at some key positions than Michigan State. Michigan State has done an unbelievable job to get to get here. I like LSU to actually win that game, even though they saw their life pass before their eyes against Maryland. And there's a lot of similarities in how Michigan State's going to

have to play Cassius Winston's going to have to bail them out. I just don't know if they have the shot making scoring. Like, I don't know if I see it. So I like LSU to win that game. I think Virginia Tech plays Duke really close. I think Duke survives, but I'm not sure Duke survives. And I don't think you win a game because you survived your last. You know, some people are like, well, now they survived a game.

Now they'll be able to blow everybody out. Like, no, that game was close because Duke is not that dominant when they're playing against an older team and one that won't turn the basketball over, one that's really well coached. I think that's what you have when you got Virginia Tech. Plus Virginia Tech seen them. And even though they haven't seen Zion, they've seen the rest of them. And they're, you know, they're not scared. There's no, there's no intimidation factor there. And then you have North Carolina who, this may be their tournament to win. Maybe their tournament to win. And one of the things kind of going for North Carolina is that their bench looks like it's

going to get a little slimmer, and that doesn't hurt them. Sometimes, I mean, Roy Williams at times has subbed himself out of NCAA tournament games in the past, and because he may not have his star freshman in a Cere Little, it might help him. He's got Cameron Johnson, who's a transfer senior. He's got Luke May, who's had an unbelievable career in Kobe Wright, Kobe White, super talented freshman point guard. I like Carolina the best because Auburn has to play fast, and you can't play fast with Carolina. I like LSU. Virginia Tech keeps it close. And then I'm taking Kentucky because I like them and I like their shot making with

Kelton Johnson and Tyler Hero. But man, I am nervous because I think that Houston squad's game and they should have beaten Michigan last year. Granted, a different roster, but should have beat Michigan last year. All right. So enjoy the week's games, the week's games and the weekends game. Monday I'll be back and we'll have a final four. We'll get you ready for the final four plus.

You haven't been paying attention. Tiger Woods has been playing like, well, Tiger Woods. So we'll react to Tiger Woods weekend upcoming Monday. My thanks to Matt Barnes, Jeff Goodman, Rob Parker, and our entire staff, have yourself a fabulous weekend. In for Colin Cowherd, I'm Doug Gottlieb. This has been the heard on Fox Sports Radio, Fox Sports One, the IHeart Radio app. And don't forget to download the All Ball podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

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