The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR-1-Brooklyn Nets Nash, Healthy Thunder, Playoff Madness

Episode Date: September 3, 2020

In this hour of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Doug Gottlieb--in for Colin--analyzes the reasoning behind the hiring of former NBA guard Steve Nash as the Brooklyn Nets' new head coach. Also, Oklahoma City isn't a top destination for many NBA free agents, but Doug feels the Thunder are going to be just fine next season. Plus, David Thorpe of truehoop.com on the latest drama from the NBA playoffs. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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

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I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening to The Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday from 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day on the IHeartRadio app by searching Herd. Now let's get this party started. Listening to Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is the herd, wherever you may be in, however you may be making as part of your day. Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlie, filling in for Colin Cowherd. What a great show we have for you today.

after a couple of amazing playoff games. Last night in the NBA, the Rockets survive Oklahoma City. We've got a lot to get to. I'm going to teach you some ball a little bit later on the show. Plus, the Rockets postpone what we believe to be the inevitable. That upcoming. I'm going to credit Colin Cowher.

I, you know, my boy Colin, where Colin was right, I thought he had an analogy for Janus last week, which worked, and it got exposed again last night, again last night. So we'll get to the Milwaukee Bucks now, show you a two games to the none, to the Miami Heat. Everybody's talking about the officiating, which is good because that's somewhat of return to normalcy. So we got that. Leonard Fornet is now a member of the Tampa Buccaneers. What does that mean for the Bucs? We'll get to it. Also, the New England Patriots

continue to be bad at one thing. Just one thing they're really bad at. That was proof. And how far down the decision chart is Antonio Brown? Wait to you hear what the Seattle Seahawks decided to do earlier today. All right. With that, let's get to what is the breaking story of the morning

and is really, really interesting and will be used to make political comments as it already has been on another network and that ain't what it's about. It's this story from Agent Wojianowski that, that, I mean, he broke it and several people broke it, but Steve Nash, two-time MVP,

Naismimp Memorial Hall of Famer, is the new head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Maybe most curious is that Steve Kerr, who of course he worked with as a basketball consultant, he played for. Remember, Steve Kerr was a general manager. No experience. A general manager of the Phoenix Suns, Steve Nash was their star player. Steve Nash even said earlier today, hey, it's kind of interesting. I didn't know he wanted a coach.

but I think it's great, which is probably the most curious part about it. It's not that Steve Nash, who has no coaching experiences hired to coach the Brooklyn Nets, it's that Steve Nash just wanted to coach because he's a guy of what I would think would be many interests. Not necessarily political aspirations, but he's definitely, if you put him in the category of woke, that would be Steve Nash. And, of course, a guy who wants to right the wrongs of society. That would be Steve Nash. Of course, he was also for a season, a soccer analyst for Turner Sports covering European soccer.

So he was a consultant. He was a general manager of the Canadian national team. He was a soccer analyst. And now he's the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. That career path is curious. What is not curious is that a guy who has a great relationship with the general manager and a good relationship with one of the star players and was a superstar player in his own right is taking over an NBA team.

There is plenty of precedent for this. Doc Rivers had no experience when he took over the magic. Isaiah Thomas took over the Pacers. Heck, Larry Bird became the Pacers head coach. He'd never had any experience. Mark Jackson, Steve Kerr, Jason, Kid, Pat Riley had barely been an assistant coach. He's really more of a broadcaster before he became head coach.

There's plenty of precedent for this in the NBA. And of course, I've heard people like Stephen A. Smith pull out the race card, which Stephen A. Smith, you can take the race card and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. Because it just simply does not apply here. Nobody believes it applies here. Except apparently for you, which is the most bothersome part about it. Right? Like on one hand, we can all say like, look, clearly some level of racism still exists in this country.

I believe the percentage is rather small, but it's amplified by social media and the mainstream media. That said, I'd be an idiot to not at least admit that on some level, racism does exist. On the other hand, pulling out the race card every time a white guy gets a job. job over in your, by your estimation, a black eye is ludicrous. Equally ludicrous is the statement that Greg Popovich is going to be the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets because his house is for sale in San Antonio. Should be pointed out that his wife died a couple years ago. It's just a possibility that a 9,000 square foot house that has memories of the time with

your wife, maybe time to move on from that house. Or maybe he might retire rather than take the. net's job. So what is it all about? Look, I want to get to the games and what we saw last night. And you're talking to one of the biggest Jock Vaughn fans, maybe one of the only Jock Vaughn fans remaining in the national media.

That's because I grew up in Southern California and one of the guys who I emulated my game after in terms of being a local product was Jock Vaughn. He was a senior. I was a freshman. My high school team actually beat them in the CIF playoffs. We ran a one-three run, one-three-one, where we just soft double-teamed him just simply to get the ball out of his hands because he was that good with the basketball. He went on to Kansas and was kind of a lifer in the NBA as a backup point guard, became an assistant coach, became a head coach with the Orlando Magic.

That failed. And of course, now he's been with the Brooklyn Nets as an assistant and then the interim head coach. basketball, like many places you work, is about relationships. The NBA is about relationships and respect. And in order to get the job with the Brooklyn Nets, you've got to have a relationship with the general manager. The reason that Greg Popovich thing made sense was

Sean Marks had played for Greg Popovich. Sean Marks had worked for the San Antonio Spurs. That made sense. well, Sean Marks played with Steve Nash. They have a great relationship. Additionally, Steve Nash worked with Kevin Durant. And oh yeah, by the way, one of the most difficult men, super talented, but difficult dudes to coach in the NBA is Kyrie Irving.

And just about any other coach could not look him in the eye outside, maybe of a Jason kid and say, I've done what you're trying to do. Granted, I have not, wait. Steve Nash has not won a championship, but he's won two. two MVP's. There's very few people on the face of this earth who can look Kyrie Irving in the eye and say, I've been where you want to be. I am where you'd like to get to.

I'm a Hall of Famer. You can do your way and chase off coaches or you can try and do it my way. And oh yeah, by the way, apparently he's still going to have Jock Fawn as his lead assistant. And to people who say, why did they pass over Jock Fawn? if Jock Vaughn had a strong enough relationship with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, if he had the respect of that locker room, don't you think KD would have gotten on that plane to Orlando? Don't you think Kyrie would have gotten on that plane to Orlando?

Don't you think DeAndre Jordan would get on that plane and go to Orlando? It doesn't mean that this plan will work for the Brooklyn Nets. It doesn't. There is no guarantee. And I have zero idea if Steve Nash wants to be part of the grand. rind. Right. But if you take a breath, if you take a breath and look and try and figure out, hey, why didn't

it work for Kyrie in Boston? Everyone I know says he didn't, he thought that Brad Stevens was just a nerd, right? A division three player who had all these plays and used all these analytics and that staff he couldn't really relate to. Now you have Jock Vaughn, who played point guard in the NBA. Steve Nash, who was a two-time MVP at point guard in the NBA. I think there's a level

of respect that those men can walk into the locker room and tell guys like, hey, listen, this is how you win. Jack Vaughn, part of a championship organization with the San Antonio Spurs. So is it a bit outside the box? Yeah. Yeah. Was I surprised by

it? Sure. But not like not blown away by it. There's a lot of it that does make sense. If you want to win in the NBA, your best players have to respect the guy standing in front of them and telling them what to do. If you don't have that, you have no chance. Zero.

And Kevin Durant is coming off of a torn Achilles tendon. Now has a guy he knows, he trusts, he respects. And oh yeah, by the way, the guy just happens to have a great relationship with the general manager. Look, there's a lot of you who don't understand my affinity for college and why I believe that basketball players should go to college. This is a perfect example of why. Because in college, what you learn or what you foster is relationships.

With your coaches, with your assistant coaches, with your teammates, but also with other people who went to your school. Those are the relationships that you're going to call upon when you need a job. or when you want a job. That's how the business world works. Anyone who's been in the real business world understands this. It's not, what's the expression? What you know, but who you know?

That's Business 101. That's Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University. But also, I think everybody seems to know that. But instead, we get in denial of it and we use terms like white privilege that Stephen A. Smith used, and we embarrass ourselves and not realizing that no one said a word about privilege when former black great players got a chance

to coach without coaching experience. Doesn't mean it'll work. Doesn't mean it was the best hire. We also don't know who turned down the job. But I will say this. When you look at it, it makes sense. I get it. I get it.

And the former point guard become coach, I just watched last night with Billy Donovan, although I'm not sure what they were doing last possession of the game. Didn't love it. it. Rick Petino. On a point guard. Jack Vaughn, point guard.

Jason Kidd from a point guard. I could go on and on. There is plenty of precedent for this hire. Now, while it comes out of left field, it mostly comes out of left field because he was doing soccer on Turner about a year and a half ago. Okay. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but Steve Kerr went into the business sector, went into finance, made a bunch of money.

before coming back out of it, going to be the GM of the Phoenix Suns. Then he was a broadcaster. Then he was a coach. Doc Rivers, who's widely regarded as a great coach and communicator and won a championship with the Boston Celtics was a broadcaster, became the coach of the magic.

When he got fired, I think they were like 0 and 11 to start the season, went back to being a broadcaster, then took over the Boston Celtics, and then Danny Aange pulled off one of the great coups of all time, him up with three superstars and he became an NBA champion. Plenty of pressants for it. Does it work? I don't know. But if you want to make sense of it, all you have to know is that business is about relationships. The NBA is about respect. Steve Nash has a relationship with the star player,

the general manager, and likely the respect of the point guard, a position that he played and played it to the tune of two MVPs and a Hall of Fame career. Coming up next. Yes, the Rockets won last night. But didn't they just postpone the inevitable? I'll explain next in the herd. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the pod. Podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way,

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Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Now you're finishing that sentence. Yes.

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Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Doug Alibin for Colin, this is the hurt. wherever you may be and however you may be making this part of your day thanks so much Colin is tweeting that he's trying to

grow a beard I don't have to tweet about it I just got a nice little scruff going you know what I'm saying you can hit me up on Twitter at Gottlieb Show at Gottlieb show feel free

we got a good show for you really good show for you I found this to be fascinating the Houston Rockets won last night and James Hardin really struggled shooting the basketball and look we can't make this statement about him

and not make the statement about everybody it was just it was messy down the stretch Russell Westbrook missed three layups that could have iced the game as great as Chris Paul has been and as much as he played like in the fourth quarter they did take James Harden out and then took

Russell Westbrook out so they had a little bit of rest whereas Chris Paul played the entire way trying to finish that thing he wanted it bad and he turned the ball over once late that wasn't good he missed a drive late that wasn't good even the final possession where Lou Dort got his shot block believe it or not by James Harden you're like what like what yeah believe it or not it was Chris Paul kind of screwed it up there was no real play they're running just kind of a spread, get the ball to him at the top of the key, and let's just go. But with Shea Gildes Alexander open in the corner, he dribbled like two dribbles too many, and Russell Westbrook got his hands on the basketball.

It kind of screwed up the entire, I don't know, you call it a play, but just offensive possession, if you will. He won good, as great as Chris Paul was in the series of Ami. As I, as you, if you listen to the show yesterday, you're like, man, there is no bigger Chris Ball fan and Gottlie. He went great down the stretch. But still, James Hardin was James Hardin-esque in a big game, for the most part, offensively.

Didn't do much of anything. But the Rockets did find a way. They found a way to win a game. Here's James Hardin after the game. Offensively, I'll put it like excuse my language, but I couldn't make a shot. Yeah, he couldn't make a shot. But he did

block the big shot. Now, look, part of it is Lou Dort, who's a French-Canadian kid from Montreal. He played a year, also at Arizona State like James Hardin. They left him open all night. He hit 10 of his first 20. Like, they were just, like, that was one of those open for a reason. And because he had had all night to line up shots,

I think he didn't realize, had he pumped, shot faked and driven to the baseline, Steve Van Adams would have cleared the way, would have had a wide open dunk to win the game. Or actually to tie the game. To tie the game. But instead of getting into the nuances of Oklahoma City not running a play, Russell Westbrook missing layups, James Hart admitting that he played like crap but getting a big block shot.

Look, they just delayed the inevitable. I mean, the Lakers had an extra break in the middle of their series against the Portland Trailblazers, where when they came out of it, LeBron looked amazing. Anthony Davis looked amazing. Then they essentially get an extra week off, right? Because this thing could have been done in game six. That's three days ago.

And they would have played game one last night. Instead, the Lakers had that game off, last night off, tonight off, and they'll play tomorrow night. Houston, which is not a deep team, James Hardin, who struggled with his conditioning, It's a bad matchup against the Lakers. And I get it. Like James Harden's from L.A., Russell Westbrook's from L.A. You know, real L.A. guys playing against guys who parachute into L.A. and saying there are now, L.A. guys understood.

But all of that energy and momentum, that doesn't help you win a basketball game. You know what does? When it's a good matchup and when you're in good physical condition, you're not beaten up by a seven-game series, which the last two games came absolutely down to the wire and you're exhausted. Right? Fatigue makes cowards of us all. That's Vince Lombardi. It also makes mortals of

immortals. These guys are immortals and they looked very much like you and me at the end of a men's league game or at the end of playing a Saturday of pickup because they were just out of gas. Now imagine, hey, you got a night off, now you've got to play LeBron and Anthony Davis.

Good luck with that. And those flaws that were exposed, Westbrook's inability to shoot or finish at the rim, James Harden disappearing at the end of games. Those don't go away. And the more tired you are, the more they become more obvious. And there's some limitations to the team.

I feel like had they lost last night, Mike Dantone would have been fired. Had they lost last night, Daryl Morey might have been fired. Had they lost last night and the way in which James Hardin played last night and the way in which, frankly, he played in the fourth quarter of game six, you have to at least offer up the possibility of moving James Hard. And that may sound sacrily. Like, wait, why would you move on?

Guys, the MVP should have been a multi-time MVP. He's a super talented player. But if the object is to win and how many times can we get to winning time and that guy doesn't help you win, like, what more do you need to see? As Chris Paul said, some guys are not built for this. I think we're going to have the same conversations in like, a week and a half whenever this thing is done. Just postpone the inevitable.

Let's get to rhyme music with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Oh, Doug, good morning to you. Two great game seven last night. Not great finishes, but great games last night. Exciting. Exciting. That's a great way to put it.

You also talked about how Steve Nash is going to be the new head coach of the Nets. Some other news out there. Doug, this just coming down in the last few minutes. According to John Johnson, who is a 76ers insider for WIP in Philadelphia, per sources, the 76ers are close to a deal with Tai Lu to become their next head coach. Yeah, look, I would guess, there's two things. Like, why wasn't Tai Lu the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets? There's a possibility just so aware that he didn't want the job, right?

Right. that he didn't want the job. He and Kyrie had worked together before, and there's a possibility Kyrie didn't want to play for him. Obviously, their relationship wasn't great if Kyrie wanted to be traded. Right. From playing for Ty Lou. It is funny how people try to connect those thoughts.

Oh, well, they, you know, he coached him. They had great success. Doesn't mean they liked each other. Doesn't mean they liked each other. Right. Well, you're like, well, relationships are, not all relationships are good relationships. Sometimes they're bad relationships and you're like, that won't work again. He's also not connected with you.

And, you know, look, his greatest success was with LeBron James. LeBron James, clutch sports, Ben Simmons, clutch sports. But also, like, now Ty Lou can potentially become sort of like a Phil Jackson type, a Mr. Fixit. You know, you look at those two guys. So, you know, I think that there's a lot more at play here in terms of relationships, not always positive, sometimes negative, in terms of why he didn't. And maybe he didn't want the Brooklyn job. And the chance he didn't want the Brooklyn job.

Hey, I'm not a Sean Mark's guy. We don't have a, I don't know him at all. You know, they got a new owner. I don't know him at all. You know, I know Kyrie, but that ended weird. And I've never really been in the KD camp. Whereas, probably has a good relationship with somebody in the Sixers organization. And my guess is this deal has been done for a while.

It's more dot in the eyes crossing T's. I think the interesting part about Ty Lou is, did he make a mistake, turned down the Lakers job because there's only a three-year deal. That's my big question. I think the answer is yes. The one thing he has the chance to do with the Sixers is break out from that shadow of, well, he's only coached LeBron James. Let's see if he can win without LeBron James.

We'll move over to the NFL here, Doug. We've been waiting to see where running back Leonard Fornett will end up, and we finally have our answer. He didn't end up going very far. Stayed in Florida and signed with the Tampa Bay fighting Tom Brady's. Interestingly enough, you brought this staff. up to me this morning and it is absolutely fascinating. We talk about Leonard Fournett being one of the quote-unquote better running backs in the league. Now it's kind of

difficult to explain on radio but we'll do our best. There is an analytical stat out there from football outsiders called defensive adjusted yards above replacement. Basically what it tries to do is it tries to take an account all the different factors from all the running backs across the entire league for every play and neutralize them to figure out who it is. Yeah, not so good for Leonard Fournett. He had exactly zero yards adjusted above for replacement, which means he was 34th in the entire NFL.

That's interesting. So in other words, based upon their analytics, okay, based upon their analytics, anybody, any NFL running back could have done what he did with the same number of carries. More or less, that's, yeah, what that means. There was nothing exceptional about what he did when he was handed the ball. And there were 33 other running backs in the NFL that did better than he did. Well, I think the fascinating thing looking forward is, you know, they have Shady McCoy as well.

You're only going to keep one of those two guys as your backup running back. Ronald Jones, earlier today, Ronald Jones, like he's our guy. Bruce Aaron said that by Ronald Jones. Rojo is our guy. Yeah. Okay, so if Ronald Jones is your starter, then you're going to have a backup. You have to, your third string running back is going to have to play special teams. Shady McCoy and Leonard are not playing special teams.

That's one of the reasons, but people always wonder like, why can't these guys? Why don't you just have one of those guys in your roster to like, that's why? Adrian Peterson, he can be a first running back, a second runback cannot be the third runback doesn't play special teams. So there's no guarantee he makes the team. Yeah. None. You bring up a good point. if people have been watching hard knocks at all this year.

Austin Echler, who ended up taking over as the starter, no longer plays special teams, but he was undrafted by the Chargers. And in order to make the team, he played special team superstar. Started out special teams, waited behind Melvin Gordon, and that eventually got his chance. Sure. And that's Ryan Music with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Doug Gottlie been for Colin. this is the herd. We got an outstanding show for you as we're going to, we're going to continue on with this NBA discussion. I mean, like, look, we haven't even brought up. We haven't even brought up the fact that it felt like to make up,

a makeup call for a blown call where Milwaukee was down three. There was a bizarre foul call on, it wasn't bizarre. Goren Drogich. has his hands up. And, you know, they said that he ran into the space of Chris Middleton. Chris Milton gets three free throws. Game becomes tied.

Then Jimmy Butler takes a fade away where Janice touches his back after he releases the basketball. That's called a foul. And Jimmy Butler makes both free throws and wins the game with no time remaining. Like, there was a more legitimate, there's a more legitimate foul call at the end of the Auburn. Texas Tech game than there was at the end of the Bucks heat game. Nonetheless, the heat are up two games to none. That's interesting. The rockets survive the thunder. That's interesting. And then, of course, we got two games tonight and we already have the Celtics down two games to none. And the Clippers get a team who in the Denver Nuggets, a formidable team, but got to be running on fumes.

David Thorpe joins us. Truehoop.com is the website. David, of course, has worked with NBA players for years, years. Let me start with the story of the day before we get to last night's games. Steve Nash is the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. As a guy who's been in this league, been around this league for 25 years, what's your reaction? We're all surprised, right? It isn't the first time we've been surprised by a hiring like this.

I think when Steve Kurt took a job, we were all kind of surprised. And Jason Kidd, at least Kerr had been an executive. I think, if you were talking earlier, Mass was doing soccer, but he's got a real ability to connect with players. I coached players that were his teammates as well as his competitors. And there's definitely a uniqueness about how he connects with people. I think it's super important in the NBA. It clearly knows the game and knows a lot about how to reach players

and has a talent for doing it. I think the bottom line is how did he get along with Tyree and Kevin Durant, and I heard you talking earlier about Tyloo, who's likely going to take a job somewhere else. Yeah, I don't know that Tyloo really wanted to re-engage with Kyrie, and there must be a feeling that Nash can reach Kyrie in a way that Brad Stevens couldn't, and that Tyloo couldn't to some degree, Kyrie's not ever reached his full potential. Durant had to have been checked on this, and so if those two guys buy in and say, we'll do it, I think Nash has a chance to be really good.

I happen to believe coaches make a big impact, probably more so than most, believe. that they do. But there's going to be a learning curve, Doug. Although he's got a lot of time. They won't be playing games for many months. There'll be a learning curve, but I think, again, like smart people surround themselves with people who know what they don't know, right?

So when I heard that, when I heard that that Jock Vaughn was going to remain on staff, that makes sense, right? Jack Vaughn, not only has been a head coached before, but has actually coached these guys before. And I kind of, I don't know, further is my point.

Like, look, if he had a really strong connection with KD and Kyrie Irving, wouldn't they have at least been on the plane and gone to Orlando to work with the team? Right? Like, you know, I think that that's a big thing to me, that it's one thing to not play. It's a whole other thing to not even accompany the team to Orlando, where you can be kind of part of the process of putting together a playoff team. They did neither.

And I thought that was the death knell to Jack Vaughn's candidacy as being a head coach for this team. I agree with you. I don't think Jock Vaughn was expected to do well in Brooklyn. Yeah, I love Jacques Fawn. I actually coached him when he was a counselor at Five Star when he was a great player at Kansas. He's an unbelievable person, but he was a terrible coach in Orlando, which is two hours from where I live.

He shocked me, Doug, with the job he did with Brooklyn. I thought he deserved a chance for that job, but this is a league where superstars get their stay. And so to me, there's no question that if Katie and Kyrie were like, yeah, we don't mind him being the head coach or if I endorsed him, he'd be the head coach. They didn't. I think you're exactly right. You need to have people like Jacques as your top assistant, guys that have gone through this from the get-go,

building a training camp plan in such an odd year to begin with because of what's happening with the virus and everything, you're going to need experience guys. But Nash also, he's a talented person. He's a talented communicator. If he can get Kyrie and KD to defend the way these teams in Orlando are defending, which is a question mark, he'll go a long way to having a lot of success. If he does it, they won't.

All right, let's get to last night. Let's start with Miami taking down the Milwaukee Bucks. Everybody's going to make a huge deal about the officiating. I didn't think it was good, but I do think that, you know, one call gets another. You can tell me it's not a make-up call, but whatever. I think the bigger issue is, Yonis. Let me start with the minutes.

Why isn't he playing more? Can he not play more minutes? Does he not have? Is it because he plays so hard on defense? defense, why, why isn't, I saw Chris Paul play the entire fourth quarter. Granted, they were going for it. They went all in. They're not the same team when he's not in. But I'm surprised that he's still playing those regular season minutes.

Why do you think that is? It's only a guess, Doug. But my guess is some programs have scientists helping them do breakdowns, physical breakdowns of players. I'm part of a ownership group of soccer team that we do this for overseas. Well, those doctors are monitoring players. And when they get to what it's called a redline, a combination of lots of things, body heat temperature, I mean, blood pressure, all these factors that go into some kind of algorithm.

I'm just a coach, so I don't know what the algorithm is. But the players get that red line, and their chance for injury explode. And so you cannot have Giannis getting injured. And who knows him he might have a straight hamstring or some kind of muscle or tendon that might go bonkers, right? Might turn to a point where he's out, and they can't take that chance. So I'm just guessing, but that would be my guess is that they're in-house. They know they have to keep him underwrapped to some degree.

He can play as hard as he can within that minute construct. Obviously, there's a foul issue as well, and he's not playing well. As I think you know all too well, there's a flaw in what's going on with him. What is that flaw? What is that flaw? To people who are simply looking at box scores or looking at watching the game to somebody like you who has incredible insight and has worked in this sport for your entire professional life, what is the flaw to his game which is being exposed? So I'm actually, this is what I'm focusing on. I'm writing about this for Trujooop on Monday.

So I'm watching tape on it all right now. But you know this game so well, Doug, and you know that to go from really tall, athletic long player to high level player, do you have to have a handle? So Andrew Wiggins, for example, can't really dribble it. He's never reached his potential even close because he can't get from A to B to C against great defenders because his handle slows him down. So when you think of all these great wings we have, and you know them from Kauai and Paul George,

and now Jason Tatum is one of the latest ones, obviously LeBron, who can go wherever they want like they're a guard, but they're enormous men. But then the next step for anyone not named Yonis because he dumped everyone in four feet is how do you make shots beyond four feet? So KD is one of those tall wings, 70 tall, that handles like a guard, but also can make shots from anywhere across half court.

You can't say that about Yonitz. He's gotten better at three on occasion. But if he's not doing that or dunking, he doesn't have to the game, especially if you're not fouling him. And that's where that flaw is killing him. The heat has done an amazing job of racing back on defense and bulking up in the paint right in front of the rim because they know Yonis is going there.

And when he can't get there, he's either charging someone, as you've seen, or he's got to do something else. They'll spin. They know he's spinning. Everyone knows he's going to spin, and they'll strip him of that and only get called for a foul sometimes. He can't take those little jumpers,

not just the floater from five feet, the 12, 14, 16, 17 foot jumper that the world's best players make pretty regularly, 55% plus as their worst shot. He doesn't have that. And it totally gets it, or if they change their offense, which they could do, a lot of trouble. We've seen it two years in a row now. Did the Rockets just postpone the inevitable winning last night?

Yeah, I agree with your assessment completely. I think what I've been saying, and I said this about the Denver Clippers series starting tonight, and I think that by the time the Rockets really recovered, they'll be down 2-0, same as Denver. Both are good teams. I mean, Houston's a good team. They are problematic to go up again. If they had five days rest, like the Lakers had more than that, I think it probably

go six or seven games. But I mean, I don't know if you saw how Jamal Murray reacted, Doug, after they finally won game seven in a very ugly, much, much uglier game with the Jazz and this game was last night when Jamal Murray was told that they'll be playing a few days.

Yeah, yeah, he was like, what? Yeah, exactly. I mean, but Houston knows, but still to have to line up against those guys in L.A. with Davis and LeBron, I just think, I mean, they're lucky. Obviously, L.A.'s got to play well, of course, but likely before they finally get their legs back underneath them and really

dive into how do we defend Davis and LeBron and how do we score on those guys, they'll be down 2-0. And now you've got to win four or five, and it's just very low probability that happening. All right. What about, you speak of winning it, you know, four of five, what are four of six is, wait, no, that's what would have to happen with the Boston Celtics, right? I mean, the Toronto Raptors of Boston Celtics. What's gone so wrong for Toronto? You know, I think it's two things.

One is they've just shot terribly. And I give Boston some credit, but I've watched the tape. Toronto's taking plenty of great shots from guys that are good shooters. They're not losing the game for any reason that they just can't make shots the way they need to. They're much below their numbers. And then the other thing is, and this is a little bit nitpicky, but the Celtics have a number of elite defenders, right? You could probably name three with Tatum, Brown, and certainly Marcus Smart. And Seyakum has chosen to attack Brown and Smart on more than a few occasions one-on-one, and it's a mistake.

Like Janice, he isn't that kind of player that can score from anywhere when he can't just overpower you with length and size. You're not overpowering Markets Mark or Jalen Brown if you're possible. So I think for game three, which is all that matters right now, Toronto's got a, he's shoot better, which is possible. In fact, you'd probably expect him to. and the outcome's got to be smarter about when to attack one-on-one. If he's got a good matchup, great. If not, pass the ball, let someone else try to attack. But the Celtics have those three guys that defend.

And when Mark is smart makes five straight-threes in a quarter, no one's beating them in that game. All right, let's just be clear. Five straight-threes, including an hand-one. No one's beating that team. So Boston's playing great at the same time Toronto is not playing well, and that's why it's 2-0. Truehoob.com is the website.

David Thorpe and Henry Abbott run it. It is outstanding, a great place. If you love basketball, you will love true hoop. David, enjoy the hoops. Thanks so much for joining us, man. Great stuff. Thanks, sir. Pleasure is all mine.

Even though they lost, I got to get some credit to the Oklahoma City Thunder. And not me just kissing up to Chris Paul. I'll explain next in The Herd. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced. enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

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

A win is a win. I don't care what I'll say. Yep, that's me. Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because, of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition

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Open your free, our heart radio app, Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Doug Ghalybin for Colin, this is the herd. So I'm watching James Hardin and Russell Westbrook take on their former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder last night. And it dawned on me. I know there are Sam Presti is going to go down as the, instead of the GM that drafted Kevin Durant, drafted James Harden, drafted Russell Westbrook.

Instead of, and Serge Abaka, by the way. Instead of going down as that GM, he's going to go down as the GM who lost Kevin Durant to free agency, trade away James Harden before he became an MVP, and then traded away Russell Westbrook, who was an MVP as well. And, of course, Serge Abaka wins a title with Toronto. Now, look, I could get into the basketball nuance of they go to the NBA finals, and much like you've seen James Harden at the end of these games, James Hardin was almost unplayable in those games.

Granted, he was very early in his careers before the beard. right? But the stories go that they were playing Miami and everybody was focused on Russell Westbrook who has proven to be a flawed player, a tremendous talent, but a flawed player. And that, of course, has been exposed throughout time. But what people weren't talking about was James Hardin was awful, awful. And he wouldn't stop going out. Just because you're playing the heat, doesn't mean you've got to go out in South Beach

during the NBA finals. And oh yeah, by the way, they had to decide do we give the money to Sir Jabaca or do we give the money to James Harden? They tried to balance it out and stay below the luxury tax. But why they need Sir Jabaca and

another big guy? Because back then the NBA was different. The Lakers had Andrew Bynum and Powell Gasol. You needed two big guys to beat the Lakers. Same thing to beat the Spurs. They were playing with two big guys. In order to win the NBA

championship. Those are the teams you had to go through. This is before small ball. But regardless of which, the truth is that Oklahoma City can't sign quality free agents. They just don't want to play there. There's nothing against the city. I love Oklahoma City, man. It's like great. I've lived there. I still done radio there. I love it. I could live there and I think most

NBA stars that play there are like, man, cost living is great. Quality life's good. You can buy a big old house. Can play golf whatever I want. People treat me like a god. but the stars don't want to sign there. They just don't. And think about this. Considering all the guys they trade away, they took on Chris Paul a contract

that people think you want to get rid of. You know, they've put together drafts like, they're still really competitive. And oh yeah, by the way, they have Chris Paul for two more years. They got several first round picks coming out of that one. And oh, yeah, like, Lou Dort's not going to become a worst shooter. Darius Basley's not going to become a worse shooter.

I can become a worse shooter over time. Shea Gildes-Alexander, I'm a little hesitant to think he's going to be a star after watching him. I think he's a, for his position and how people view him, I think he's a below-average passer. Not for a regular basketball player, but to be a lead guard. Like there's just too many fast breaks where they didn't get a lay-up wearing a two-on-one with an NBA point guard. That's a lay-up every time. His inbound decision-making, like he's young. there are things you will improve on.

There's a lack of creativity as a passer, which you can't create. But nonetheless, they're a good player. And they're going to be in good cap shape. And they're going to have a lot of draft picks. And considering there in Oklahoma City and so many other teams have struggled to maintain level of success, they're actually doing a hell of a job. Janus is Lamar Jackson. I'll explain next.

I'm Doug Gottlie. This is The Hurt. One more HARD? The HARD streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the I-Hart Radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends. on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

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

You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Keer Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor it? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.