The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-HOUR-1-Conventional Wisdom, Cam Captain, Last-Second Win

Episode Date: September 4, 2020

In this hour of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Doug Gottlieb--in for Colin--lays out why Toronto Raptors' head coach Nick Nurse had to defy conventional wisdom to get the last-second win over Boston in Game 3 of the East Semifinals. Also, Doug isn't surprised that seasoned veteran quarterback Cam Newton has been named a team captain for the New England Patriots. Finally, NBA analyst Ryan Hollins joins the program to offer his observations on the aforementioned Game 3 and other story lines 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.

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. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. Hey, what's good, y'all?

You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear 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 signals to the world that you not to be played with.

And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to, listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The HARD 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 Hurt at Fox SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the IHartRadio app by searching Hurd. We're listening to Fox Sports Radio. What up? Welcome in. This is The Herd. Wherever you may be, and however you may be making it as part of your day.

Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlieb in for Colin Cowherd. We got a great show for your day. Ryan Hollins, NBA veteran, NBA analyst will join us. John Middilkoff in one hour. Middilcoff's great. Great. We will, he's a football guy. He has a three-in-out football podcast.

We'll get his thoughts on the book, The Dynasty, that Colin has read during his week off when he's trying to grow some pathetic beard that he's displaying on Instagram. Colin, lots of dudes try and grow a beard, grow scruff. We don't just track it on Instagram like it's something special just because yours is pathetic. I'm kidding, of course.

I'm not kidding about his face and facial hair being pathetic. It's just the idea of. promoting it like it's some sort of groundbreaking thing because his wife, Anne, has determined that he needs to grow facial hair to see if he can, I guess. Bruce Feldman will join us during the show, find out Big Ten any closer to playing because the story we shared with you yesterday was a jumping off point for why college football will not come back in the Big Ten. And it lasted for about, I don't know, five hours before the doctor behind it was like,

did I say that? Yeah, there's actually no statistical proof what I said was actually accurate or actually science. Oops. We got a great best for last for you. Man, do we have a good show? Let me start with this last night. Last night, the Raptors beat the Celtics in about as remarkable a fashion as you're going to see. Now, remember, game one, Celtics blow out the Raptors.

Game two, really close game. Marcus Smart hits five threes in what felt like 30 seconds. And then Kemba Walker hits the dagger and the Celtics win. Game three, Campbell Walker, beautiful assist to put the Celtics up two with 0.5 seconds to go. Ball game, right? And the only game I've seen in the playoffs, one with less time on the clock. You remember the spurs against the Lakers? Remember that?

And then there was that NBA commercial from it. It was the ball talking. I see the bucket. I see fish. I see the bucket. I see fish. Bucket. Fisci fish.

Remember that? 0.4 seconds, I think, goes what it was. I mean, just the craziest play ever. And look, this could be the shot that changes the entire playoffs. You're like, come on, God,

leave me. How much hyperbole can you possibly give me? You know? I listened to Clay Travis this morning. He said nobody's watching the playoffs. You know, there's a lot of other stuff. Adrian Peterson gets cut, and Tampa can add him too. There's other stuff going on.

Cam Newton announces a starter or not announced the starter, but captain of the Patriots, although the Patriots have not announced him as the starter. That seems like a foreground. There are other things. The Dodgers are 29 and 10. We can crown them. But to me, the shot that was hit last night,

the defending champions, a team that everybody respects, but they needed something. And I've talked about this for years that in all sports, basketball, maybe especially, the three Cs are not discussed enough. Culture, Raptors clearly have it. I think the Celtics have it as well. Conditioning, I mean, that's one of my questions. I mean, obviously the nuggets, they were, you know, Yokic is, always had issues with conditioning, but that team was fried last night. It stands the reason

the rockets will be the same tonight. And confidence. Confidence. And while the Celtics believe they had the game, right? Believe they had the game. Anyone can have a crisis in confidence if you're sitting there and you're playing the Raptors again tomorrow night and you're like, we should be up three games to none. We're up three games and none. They've been in the bubble for two, two and a half months, they're going to want to go home. This thing is over, but now it's not. And Fred Van Vleet, trying to play up on that. They effed up.

He said of the Boston squad that was so close to being up 3-0 in the series, they effed up now. We've all seen it in sports. Bill Sell famously told his Kansas team. Remember when Mario Chalmers hit the three-pointer in San Antonio against Memphis. Do you guys remember that? 2008 national title game, I believe.

You guys do know that only tied the game. That did not win the game. But they were down nine with two minutes to go. Come back, tie it at the buzzer. And it's not just they tied at the buzzer. It's that Memphis missed a free throw. They come down and they were supposed to foul. Up three.

They didn't foul. They hand off. Kansas even screwed up the play. That's not even the play that they were sort of like half of what they were supposed to do. Chalmers gets it, knocks down a three. and Bill Self, like, we got them. They're done. Because when you're up nine

and you're starting to think about being a national champion and the confetti falling in one shining moment, right? And all of a sudden now you're in overtime? We got to play five more minutes? Yeah, they effed up,

is what Fred Van Fleet said. That's right. You know, we've seen it in, how many times have we seen it in the NFL? fell. When you're down big, all you've got to do is take the lead. You take the lead and it's over. The other team folds up like a cheap tent. So we don't know what will happen with the Celtics. But here's what we do know. I like to defy conventional wisdom. By the way, that's what the Brooklyn Nets did yesterday. Conventional wisdom is you have two star players.

You had Kenny Atkinson, who's a very good developmental coach, who had established really good culture. All right, but now it's time for a professional to come in. Like what the Philadelphia 76ers are doing. 76ers had Brett Brown. He's brought in as a developmental coach, develop those guys, great relationship with guys, whatever. But you get to a point of like, all right, now bring in in Tailu. He's actually won a title before. That's what the Lakers did when they brought him Phil Jackson.

Right? And when they brought back Phil Jackson. that's what the clippers did when they hired doc rivers because doc has once you the hardest in order to in order to win in the NBA the locker room has to buy in order to have the locker room buy in in coach wins the title you get buy in but in order to win a title you got to get locker room buy in there is a catch 22 there right but the brooklyn nets yesterday said to conventional wisdom. Let's go hire Steve Nash. Do you want to be a coach like? Yeah, I don't have anything going on. That's really what it felt like with Steve Nash. Sure, he had the, he had the itch,

the burning, but it's not like he was sitting there. Like, Chauncey Billups wants to be a coach. Chauncey Billups has done the preparation. He works with young guys. He covers the game. Like he's all about ball. He wants to be a GM or be a coach. Like Choncy wants it. Steve Nash is like, yeah, I don't know. But Sean Marks, who knows Steve Nash well, and he's like, you know, You know, Steve sacrificed himself for others for the cause of winning, totally understood different cultures, different people. Like, he just kind of gets it. Gets it. And when asked, I heard an interview earlier today.

When he was asked, hey, he hasn't coached before. Like, he's playing point guard for 20 years in the NBA. What do you think he was doing? We operate in this weird, weird world where people who haven't played a sport are trying to tell us. what happens within a sport. Now what happens in the sport is, especially in the NBA, you're a two-time finals MVP who controls the game.

You're doing just as much of the coaching as Mike Dan Tony or Don Nelson or, you know, Mike Brown, who he played for with the Lakers. Last night, when Kyle Lowry hit O.G. Anobi, sorry, my pronunciation of his last name sucks. I apologize. He's my risuto. It's a Billy Madison reference.

Doug Gottliebind for Colin, this is the herd. Two things that are conventional wisdom were proven to be incorrect. The first thing is, you always put a big guy on the ball. Because it makes it harder, almost impossible to make a bad. Put a big guy on the ball. Or guard the inbounder in the NBA because he could get it back. Well, there's 0.5 seconds to go. So the only thing that can happen is you can.

catch and shoot the basketball. Now, I'm not saying that if I was in that situation as head coach, I wouldn't put a big on the ball, but I will tell you this. You do realize that when they have a guy taking the ball in bounds and there's 0.5 seconds ago, so there will be no second pass, you can actually play five on four on defense

if you're not guarding the basketball. Wait, wait, wait, wait, my math. No, you have five. They have four. No, we have to do what we've always done. Now, look, I'll credit Brad Stevens. That was not a conventional defense that they screwed up. They were basically in a zone. But as my son learned playing the zone for a first time last weekend,

like, yeah, a zone doesn't just mean you stand in an area. It's not hands-up hairy. You're basically man-to-man. You just switch everything and kind of stay generally in your area. It's like a match-up. They get screwed up. And somehow, on the very opposite side of the court, a kid who had not made, I don't think,

taking a shot the entire second half steps into one. It's pretty amazing, right? The second thing that goes, conventional wisdom that goes out the door is, you don't want your point guard taking it in and he's too small, I can't see. Now, were they helped out by the fact there's no fans in the stands, and so you have more room to step back and have a better visual of the entire floor? Sure. Sure.

But it's bizarre that conventional wisdom tells you to have a big guy take the ball in bounds so he can see when, with the exception of, you know, like, I mean, Yokic, DeVotch, Chris Weber was a great passer, Bill Walton. These guys are great passers. LeBron James, although you'd want to throw the ball into LeBron James. With rare exception, you want your point guard to take the ball in bounds because he's your best passer. go back and look at the very night before. Now, I understand that the logic behind having Chris Paul try and get the basketball is Chris Paul's Oklahoma City's best player, most likely got to make a game-winning clutch shot so you don't have him take the ball and bounce. But when they first took the ball in, Stephen Adams is wide open. He's lonely. He was so open. Lonely.

And yet no one made eye contact with him. No one just threw it up to the rim so he could catch. it and dunk it and force overtime. Conventional wisdom isn't always right. Right? Conventional wisdom isn't always right. It, by the way, is what led us to using analytics. Because, I mean, 20 years ago, conventional wisdom was like, why would you take a three-point shot from 25 feet when you can just take a 17-foot

shot? And Rick Petino is one of the first coaches to go, you know, you don't have to make as many three-point shots as you do two-point shots to actually score more points. You're like, what? Yeah, here's the little math problem. That was conventional wisdom. Think about how baseball has changed. Baseball used to be two strikes, choke up, just put it in play.

Just put it in play. That was conventional wisdom. Bunts, conventional wisdom. Put a guy on second, move a guy from second to third, in scoring position, whatever. They don't do that anymore. You know why? because it turns out conventional wisdom is wrong. You're better off striking out

because you're swinging for the fences than you are being a punching duty hitter. What you saw last night from Nick Nurse and the Toronto Raptors in reaction to Taco Fall, you cannot get a bigger human being on earth. He blocks out the sun. And they took their smallest,

or second smallest player from Fred Van Fleet is probably smaller and said, Hey, you take it in. He delivered a perfect pass all the way across the court. Because conventional wisdom is wrong. And we have ourselves a brand new NBA playoff series. Amazing.

Amazing stuff. All right, coming up next. Cam Newton is the starting quarterback for your New England Patriots. Why this shouldn't be a surprise. And yet I still have my doubts about the Patriots season. That's upcoming next in The Hurt. Be sure to catch live edition. of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeart

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 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 to stop 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place. for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments

in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me

or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a 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 we? went down and tried 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 you 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, so. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keir 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 hard way and listen now. Doug Galdiven for Colin, this is the herd. Ryan Holland will join us around the corner. We got herdline news coming up, interesting stories. And I will tell you why what we saw from the Nuggets last night bodes very well for the Lakers tonight.

The Lakers don't play the Nuggets. I know. I know. I'm dumb, but I'm not stupid. Is that better? Good. Okay. So it hasn't been made official, but unofficially official.

Unofficially official. Cam Newton is going to be the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots. All right. So, like, look, as a source, the source says the Patriots name a starting quarterback and team captain. in Cam Newton, the Patriots themselves won't say anything. Bill Belichick told players that Newton would officially be named the team starter in a meeting on Thursday, a source confirmed to the Boston Globe. That came after Newton was voted one of three offensive captains as part of a player's vote.

It's extremely rare for the Patriots to elect a player in his first year as a team captain. It's also extremely rare to have somebody not named Tom Brady quarterback of the New England Patriots. It's extremely rare to have anybody in their first year with the team. Like, yeah, except, I mean, who are they going to name as offensive captain? James White and David Andrews are the other two captains. Look, this is not a surprise. It really isn't. What was more surprising was that there was a quarterback competition.

What was more surprising was that he was out there on the street because, people don't know if his shoulder will hold up or if his foot will hold up or how you use him. What's more surprising is they just cut Muhammad Sanoo. I mean, how bad was the Muhammad Sanoo trade? Holy cow. Second round pick. They overpaid for him. Could have had Emmanuel Sanders.

And I'm sure they overpaid for him because if you look back, okay, Muhammad Sanoo had his best success, right? Who is the offensive coordinator? who was the offense accordion for the Patriots, for the Falcons, when Muhammad Sunnu had his best success as a Falcon. Well, he would just so happen to be the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. So the Falcons smartly bid up the Patriots because everyone knew that the Niners needed another wide receiver, and they sent Muhammad Sanu packing.

Meanwhile, the Niners went and got Emmanuel Sanders for a third round pick, and he's better. And still on the team, by the way. So look, the Patriots, nothing has essentially changed except for did we miss out on these six Patriots who opted out of this season? Several of their defensive stars, including Dante Heightower, who said, $8 million, thanks, but no thanks. I'll sit this one out, which by the way, makes absolutely no sense. Look, Dante Heightower has every right, every right to do what he's done. but I'm going to tell you right now, it is lunacy what he decided to do. Because I think he makes, what, 350 grand by opting out?

He had $8 million coming to him. Eight. I'm not denying that your family is most important. And there's a report today that black families are disproportionately being affected by COVID in comparison to white families. I think 2.4 percent, 2.4.4. to one in terms of ratio, black, more black people have died from COVID than from white people,

whatever. I mean, Dante Hout Tower, you make $8 million. You can spend a million dollars to protect your family. You're still coming home every day, only you're getting tested daily. That makes sense to me. It does make sense that Cam Newton is their quarterback. It does make sense that you're going to,

if you're going to have Cam, you might as well use him. It should also point you pointed out that Jared Stidham, he got banged up early in camp, and so it wasn't really a competition and, you know, look, when you walk into a locker room and Mike Vic had much the same type of swag, you walk into locker room and you're Cam freaking Newton. Young guys grew up idolizing you. Watched you play in college win a national championship and a high sphin trophy and be the number one overall pick. That has power. Older dudes are like, yo, that dude's won. He won.

and he had a 15-1 season they went to the Super Bowl he's been the league's MVP on reputation alone he was he was starting this competition on second or third base

but that doesn't necessarily change anything for the paths right they still don't have weaponry for him they still don't have a full roster for him and they're more likely to use him as a runner and as a thrower out of necessity and out of game planning,

which can be good for him to be productive, but man, will his body hold up? I still don't know to you. Granted, they open up against the dolphins. They're very much a work in progress. But then they take on the Seahawks on the road. Okay, no fans, no 12th man, fine. It's still the Seahawks, Raiders at home, and then they take on the Chiefs.

I just, I'm not totally convinced. that two and two for a team that traditionally uses the first four games as extended training camp even with preseason games now you have no preseason games

you got a quarterback who has never played in a Patriot Uniform before he's named the starter and a captain and who's he going to throw to? I just I'm happy for Cam he will prove many who work in the league not cover the league

work in the league because they talked about him and they were like, man, I don't know. The arm, the throwing motion, the foot, the ankle, all of those things. Does he fit into our offense? He doesn't want to be a backup. How much money will it? All of these things, they were legit questions.

And maybe he can prove him all wrong that he can still play and the Patriots still won't be successful. Let's get to Ryan Music with the news. Turn on the news. This is the Heard Line News. Good morning, Doug.

Good morning, Ryan. So good to be here. A not-so-good morning for a Hall of Fame running back, or future Hall of Fame, or I should say, Adrian Peterson. He was cut by the Washington football team earlier today, a little bit unexpected, at least from his perspective. He told the Washington radio station he was blindsided by the release. And according to pro-football talk, a couple of NFL teams are already interested in bringing in Adrian Peterson. question is he just he didn't specify he just cited sources are that teams are already reaching out to him that's his agent i would say so right oh we got lots to him who sort teams name one i can't that would

be violating some sort of agreement look i like agent peterson he is a hall of famer he obviously famously came back from an ACL injury faster and better than anybody ever has before um and kind of uh you know he trails Barry Sanders for fourth place in the career rushing list by just over 1,000 yards, 153 yards. But he's 35 years old. He's a power runner. Can't play special teams. Doesn't really catch it out of the backfield. It feels like a, you know, he feels like an kind of arcane piece.

Now, Frank Gore's been able to keep, do you see Frank Gore's kid play last night as a freshman in Southern Miss? That's right. Right. I mean, it's pretty amazing. People talk about LeBron James and him playing alongside Brony James in the NBA. Frank Gore, if he plays and somehow his son is also in the NFL at the same time would be absolutely remarkable. Yeah, look, but this is, remember, he was, he rushed for 1,000 yards under Jay Gruden. New coaching staff, new front office, everything's new.

They're cleaning house. And so I don't think he's going to be in high demand. I think his best opportunity to be sit, wait for somebody to get hurt. and then parachute in and try him because he can't be a third string running back because he doesn't play special teams. That's usually young guys. And he doesn't have the speed he used to. He's never been able to be good at catching it out of the back field.

He's not terrible. He's not good. His best to sit, wait, somebody gets hurt. And Doug, we might finally have a new team for Jadavian Clownie. Multiple reports are saying that the New Orleans Saints are going on a all-out push to try and sign the former number one overall pick. No official news yet. also passed this along, Titans Insider.

Paul Kaharski, I probably butchered that, so I apologize. No, it's Paul Kajarski, that's the name. Okay. That Tennessee could still be in the mix. Yeah. He was saying Tennessee is 18. Obviously, Tennessee has more money. They have more money.

The Saints are like, look, Teddy Bridgewater came in, took nothing, and look at the deal he got. Correct. Come play, win a soup bowl. You play in the South. He's from the South. Much more comfortable.

You play in the fast track of the Dome. Like, we play in good weather. all warm, you know, Atlanta's a dome, this is a dome, like you can get after it in our division. That's nine games guaranteed in a dome, which should give you more speed coming off the edge.

And based upon, you know, like scheme-wise, we fit you, we just can't pay you enough. They're trying to recruiting over dollars and cents, which would go counter to everything we've heard about Genevian Clowney, who has been a show-me-the-money guy, right? Seattle wanted him back, but they didn't want to pay him, you know,

$20 million, and then when he dialed it back to $17, they weren't there like at 13. That's where Tennessee is. The Saints are nowhere close. Will he bet on himself? That would be a complete 180 from where he's been this entire off-season. And that's right.

Music with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. Remarkable shot last night, which saves Toronto and gives us a series. Now, two games to one, the Celtics lead, the Raptors.

We got that. The Clippers dominate the Denver Nuggets. Lakers, Rockets, tonight. And, you know, we also have, believe it or not, there is another Eastern Conference series. That's the Bucks who trail two games done to the Miami Heat. Like, this is make or break. This is win or one, two, three, Cancun. For the Milwaukee Bucks, who they have, Janice has got the Supermax contract sitting out there waiting for him in the offseason.

The questions about Mike Boodenholzer. and the Miami Heat who are playing with a tremendous amount of confidence. Let's start with last night. Ryan, the only shot I can remember with less time on the clock to win a playoff game was the Derek Fisher one against the San Antonio Spurs. I think you were at UCLA at the time. What were your thoughts in that final shot and what it does to this series with Toronto escaping the Boston Celtics?

Look, Dan, if you talk about prayers being honest, answered. The last thing you want to do from all my playoff experiences go down, go down 3-0. I mean, I'm sure the number supported. I don't know of anything. Teams have come back from 3-1, but 3-0 just ain't happening. And the Raptors were a team by many favor to come out of the east. I always said that Boston was a horrible matchup for him, and you're seeing it now. But literally in every single run, you need that one fortunate play. You know, you're down 20 and Kobe throws the lobby, just kill O'Neil and Shack comes down and Ducksie. You have one fortunate play and the Raptors just got it.

But the question is, Doug, are they going to make good on it? Is that game going to be a fluke or will they show that they are the better team? And so far they have not been. Boston is literally just walking their Raptors down in the third and fourth quarters because they have the mindset that they own them. And we're talking about how great Nick Nurse is and I'm a big Nick NERC fan. But guess what, guys? everybody forgot about Brad Stevens.

So was it a miscue? Yeah. Ultimately, Doug, at the end of the game, if OG and a newbie and not Van Fleet, not Lowry, not Siakum, has to flick up a three-pointer with a contested hand that almost blocks it, similar to James Hart who blocked the shot of Lou Jordan against OKC, the same exact scenario. And you win the game, part of me says, hats off. great job let's see if you can do it again and if you're the uh if you're the if you're the if you're the boss in celtics you want to sit back and say man don't put ourselves in that situation when the game

outright um it's really good stuff in there let me let me start with this how much does it affect as you pointed out the celtics kind of have this uh confidence level before that last play that made you think they knew they were better they knew Toronto couldn't beat him But, look, confidence can at times be fragile. Fred Van Bleet was running down the hallway, apparently saying they're effed up. Like, we're in their head now because they had that one-one, and now the sudden we got a series. What do you think happens now that the Raptors stole a game?

Derek, I think the Boston comes out the next game on fire. I think they'll be upset. I think they're going to win by 10 plus. They are the better team. They've walked down the Raptors. And the truth of the matter is, they get some of the upset. match up better. And my big flaw with the Raptors and that, I want you to remember this, take it down, put a sticky pad on it.

The Raptors don't score enough. They are elite, elite defensively, but with those smaller guards in the playoffs, they cannot score enough, generate enough offense to come out of the east. And I love Pascal. That's a little brother right there, but you need two or three Pascal's that can score at his level. Okay, they're able to match up pretty decent with Pascal, but they just, they don't have enough offense. but I think they're angry.

What that reminds me of, remember when Ray Allen hit that shot and sent the Spurs home packing, saved part of LeBron's legacy and his second championship down there in Miami? What happened the very next year? The Spurs beat the breaks off of LeBron and then, boy, they beat the pants off of them because they knew you do not let a game be determined in the last seconds. Why? We've always been precious in the huddle. Larry Browns, Doc Rivers, all.

those guys said, hey, if you leave it to a team in the last second, anything can happen. And last night, anything could and did happen for the Raptors. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. All right, what about the Milwaukee Bucks? They have to win tonight, but can they? I mean, they can, but you know, the way they're going to have to do it, it's just going to have to be ugly. You are playing, they're playing against the heat and Jimmy Butler, Bam out of bio, they are punking the bucks, okay? They are punking them. And I like Milwaukee, the gust that they came with last game. They look more like the bucks.

But right now there's a mental edge. Every single floor, every single game. Okay. The Yannis gets on the floor, Doug, and you'd agree with me here. He is the alpha. He is the one of one, and he walks in with this provider. He owns the absolute court. And you know what the what the heater saying?

The heater getting right. If there's Derek Jones Jr. getting in his face, if it's Jimmy's buckets. If it's Jay Crowder, there's none but dogs on that Miami team. So if the bucks are going to win it, man, they've got to win the mental game. And it's one through five. It's one to wait, whatever. All those guys on the bench, that's what it's going to have to come down to.

And there's honestly, there's no way around it because Miami's just good enough to score and defend. They're not that. I would say they're that much more of a talented team. They're just playing with the right mindset. I would agree with you. I also think, though, that the flaws of, you know, the flaws of Janus, I think, are getting exposed, right? His inability to make mid-range shots, you know, like, look at what Kauai's able to do.

Look at what Yonis is able to do. Obviously, Kauai is a much more refined player, but that's really the argument there, right? You want to go there, Doug? Let's go there, then. Yes. So last year, last year, I was literally mocked and jared on social media from every moment. Milwaukee Buck fan to every kid under 17 years old of Janus this, Janice. I love Janice.

I want to see the kid do well. But what was my statement? He's not going to dunk his way through the playoffs. Okay. It's just not going to work. Doug, we're saying the same thing. I haven't seen one tweet, one person saying, that Ryan Hollis is right.

Now everyone's breaking down. What's wrong with Janus? And I don't think there's so much what's wrong with Janus. He needs more around him. I think he's a heck of a player. But as you said, Doug, I agree. He's not LeBron. He's not Kawhi.

He's not even necessarily Kevin Durant. He's a bad man. But if we're going to make him a comp, I was just talking with my guy, Jason Flowers, former UCLA player and great. And we made the point that he's closer to an Anthony Davis, closer to a Shaquille O'Neal, where Shaquille O'Neal is absolutely great.

One of the greatest players we've ever seen. But in the last few moments, he needs help. He needs a guard who can go and make play. in the last seconds are set his job up to be easy. He's having to work so, so hard to manufacture points, and it can't be all Janus. And right now, it's all Janus. Yeah, that's based upon the construction of that team, right? And that's the, what about, what about Kauai?

Am I okay in your mind saying, like, look, LeBron's been great and has had a better career, a longer great career, but this is Kauai's league right now. You get to be told. You want to know why? You see LeBron play possum. I've seen, you see different. LeBron is so intelligent, Doug, that he goes into a game with a mindset of, hey, I'm going to be passer LeBron this game. Hey, even earlier right before, right as the bubble hit, he was defender LeBron.

LeBron, when did you play defense on the last second switch and slid your feet and contested last second shot? You know, I like he did it against Old Depot, but okay, now you're defender, LeBron, or now I score LeBron. LeBron plays in different gears. We know who Kauai Leonard essentially is going to be once he's done load managing. And Doug, you're seeing it. He's one of the best players on the planet. And obviously, we knew coming in that the Denver Nuggets or Utah Jazz, whoever came in, they had a ticket to Kankoon, okay?

It wasn't going to work against Kauai. You didn't have enough to guard them. You're too much of a traditional team with a traditional power for them center. It wasn't going to work. The Marcus Morris Kowal, those guys are having a field day. He's a bad man. But the one thing I can't do, Doug, it just count out LeBron James because I've seen him play Possum, and we haven't quite yet seen the real LeBron James that he showed the Blazers a little bit in that,

well, was it game three or four, he showed a little bit of a lot of the wrong. Game four and game five. Right. Right. We haven't seen him yet, Doug. See, I actually, I'm going to disagree with you. I think we have seen LeBron. He still has, no, he still has that in him.

Just when you're 35, you can't do that. night. You just can't. So I'm not saying that LeBron still doesn't have close to peak LeBron. It's the ability to be consistently at that level. And that's why you think he's playing possum,

but it's just more some nights you don't have it in the tank. I may say the same for Kawhi Leonard. Kauai's a little younger, but Kauai's already load managing at his age. We hadn't really... Listen, Kauai had Kleeber Garden of last series. Okay. Gary

Harris trying to stick them. I mean, go out of field day. I mean, that was almost the easiest cruising performance that we've seen. If you don't have a guy that's strong enough. And remember when I say that they're strong enough that can take the bump from Kauai because Kauai doesn't have the same gust that he once had early in the league when I played against him. But one thing Kauai has is a different type of strength.

If you see him, man, he's got these big old hands and wrist and just he's a, he's just a big human being. And when he hits guys, if you can't take that bump or stand in there for that bump, you're toast. How is any of this different than LeBron? Right? LeBron was going against the Portland Trailblazers, who was guarding him in that series. Carmelo can't guard anybody. You know, Nerkitz was trying to guard Anthony.

Like, they're a terrible defensive team. And, like, LeBron does the same thing, right? He plays bully ball. He just kind of runs you over and creates a space. Can I see that for four games in a row from Kauai? Can I see it? I mean, we saw it last year, but I can't tell you that Kauai isn't more, and I think what we're asking ourselves right now,

is Kauai more worn down at a younger age, LeBron James at 35 years old? Who's more, who can keep up this high level? And what I'm saying is that I can't make that call because I haven't seen Kauai do it against guys that are his size. Right. Guys are big enough, guys that are fast enough, you know, just enough. And granted,

LeBron James hadn't had anybody match up with him, you know, and he's going to get his share of PJ Tucker and Russell Westbrook and Covington and those boys in this next round. So we're going to see that's going to be a bit of a more of a formidable. They're going to press LeBron to be LeBron, Houston next series. So I'm up in the air, Doug. I'm hearing you, though, baby. I'm hearing you.

That'll be the battle for L.A. Although you've got L.A. guys to take on the L.A. Lakers, which starts tonight. Ryan Hollins, you see him all across every network as a longtime pro. and of course now an NBA analyst. Ryan, great stuff, dude. Thanks for joining us. I appreciate it, Doug. Pleasure is all mine. The Lakers did not play last night, but the Lakers received great news in watching one of the games last night.

I'll share it with you next. I'm Doug Gottlie. This is 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 games. Some call. While 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.

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You know, I was watching the NBA last night, and I thought the, that's really good news for the Lakers. By the way, Colin just posted on Instagram, do you guys see this? Where are all my Clippers haters? Colin, there's no Clippers haters. No one thought the Clippers were going to lose to the Denver Nuggets coming off of an incredible seven-game series. I would say you have to care enough.

I just don't know that people care enough yet about the Clippers to have Clippers haters. But that would be my answer to Collins Clippers haters thing. But I watched the Clippers thoroughly and completely dismantle the Nuggets. And now keep in mind the Nuggets are a little bit deeper, a deeper team than the Houston Rockets are. Last night, by the way, the Nuggets played everybody on their bench. Everybody. Bull, bowl, got four minutes. Kada Bates, Diop got seven minutes.

Troy Daniels. Troy Daniels, of course, who started the season with the Lakers was supposed to be their sniper. He got five minutes. They just played everybody like, dude, we're getting blown out. Let's like empty the bench. Everybody play. Anybody who had a uniform for either team played last night,

that sucker was over at halftime. He's 18-point game at the half, and the rest, as they say, is history. Kauai was phenomenal. You guys see this stat. Kauai shooting 80 percent. on mid-range jump shots, 80%. 80.

In the bubble. It was crazy. But I watched that game and I thought, well, this is good news for the Lakers. Why? Because the Clippers will be ready for them after four games? No, because the rockets are toast. The Nuggets, at least, they brought Gary Harris back off of injury in the last series.

The Nuggets have a little bit more depth than, than the Houston Rockets do? I mean, like, look, when Houston beat Oklahoma City in game seven, I'm in a hard-fought game where both teams were absolutely gassed at the end of the game, absolutely gassed. Look at the minutes played by all their stars. They played three bench players. Austin Rivers is going to play a ton tonight.

Only played seven minutes. They basically played seven dudes. do you know how hard it is to turn around two days later and play against the best team in the West, LeBron James and Anthony Davis when you don't have a good matchup. They're bigger than you. They're better defensively than you. And they've played, what is it, two times in the last week and a half?

I mean, look, the Rockets are their legs are going to be toast. This game will be a wrap. And I look at it if I'm the Lakers, I mean, by the way, my picks last night, right? I had the Raptors winning and covering. Frankly, I was helped out. But they did not cover, but they did win. But the other one was the Clippers, they were nine point favorites,

and that was not enough. Which kind of brings us to tonight. Lakers are six point favorites, and that's not enough. That doesn't mean Houston can't beat them. They just ain't going to beat them tonight. No legs, no gas in the tank. Everyone has a limit. And when you think of how tired James Hardin was in game,

seven, how tired Russell Westbrook was, missing his last three layups in game seven. Now you got to guard LeBron James? Anthony Davis? Yeah, it's not going to be good. Last night was great news for the Lakers. Maybe it was a little bit confirmation bias. I thought

the Nuggets would be tired and Tired doesn't begin to even explain how exhausted they looked collectively. Kauai Leonard is the best player in the NBA. I can prove it to you. I'll do so next. And I'm Doug Gottlie. This. is The Hurt. One more HARD?

The HARD streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search HARD 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games.

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