The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Herd-Saturday Special-Phil Steele and Chris Mannix

Episode Date: August 8, 2020

First Colin talks with Phil Steele, College Football Analyst and Author of the most accurate CFB preview magazine in the country. They talk about which two teams will surprise everyone this year and which teams will disappoint. They also talk Texas, Michigan, USC and which teams will compete for a championship. Then, Colin talks with Sports Illustrated NBA Writer Chris Mannix from the bubble in Orlando about the Lakers title chances, the Bucks and why the quality of basketball has been so good. 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. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was 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. 84 was a wild year. 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. 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 Clifford 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 IHeard 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. Hi, everybody.

A couple of good guests on our Saturday podcast today. Chris Manix will join us later, the truth about what's happening in the bubble in NBA land in Orlando. But first, somebody we couldn't bring on very regularly for years because he was at another place. And now he's a free agent. Our friend Philsteel, Philsteel.com. He writes the college football preview.

22 straight years. The most accurate college football Bible there is. By the way, it's out now. 350 full-color pages, stats, trends, angles, returning starters, forecasts. It's only 1999. I've already got, I think, one or two sent to my house. I'm gobbling it up and I'll keep it all season long and go back to it. So, Phil, let's start with this.

One of the things I've always looked at, and it's always been something, is somebody that is a football gambler. In college, week to week, I think it's a hard sport to bet. But I do like futures. Give me a couple of teams, Phil, that through your research, you feel are better than even the wise guys in Vegas. think that you think could really be surprised teams? Let me give you a couple of them, Colin, and I'll start with Miami of Florida. You know, Miami's coming off a six-win season last year, wasn't very good at the quarterback position, and they got an instant upgrade there, adding Derek King from Houston.

Derek King at 36 touchdowns passing, 14 touchdowns running two years ago at Houston, despite missing two games. I love this guy, and I think he gives him an instant upgrade there, and then you look at them defensively. Gregory Rousseau is a redshirt freshman at 15 and a half sacks last year. They added in Quincy Rochay, a defensive end from Temple and all American Conference defensive player of the year, 13-5 sacks.

Those year book-end defense events Miami's got as well as the rest of the defense basically coming back. This is a loaded Miami team, and the number's extremely low on them. I like Miami to top their total. And then the second one would be Texas A&M. And talking to Coach Jimbo Fisher last year, Two things really stuck out to me, Colin. First of all, the lack of seniors on the squad.

They only had four or five seniors on the entire team. And the second was their schedule. They took on number one ranked Clemson, number one ranked Alabama, number one ranked LSU, number four, Georgia, number eight, Auburn. And I was talking to Coach Fisher, and I said, coach, I'm going to put you on my national cover next year. Well, next year's here. The schedule's a lot lighter, and as opposed to playing three number one teams, They may only play two top 10 teams, and they've got 17 returning starters, including Kalamanda QB.

So they're a loaded team, and they're going to be a much different team this year. But I think a lot of folks look at that five losses from last year and peg them there. I think that they're going to be Alabama's prime contender in the West. Okay, so the Miami Hurricanes and the Aggies from Texas, A&M from the very perceptive Phil Steele. Now give me a couple of teams that maybe the public will bet the over, the public. sees them, but you have real questions? I would have to start maybe with Navy. I'm not sure what the preseason total is on Navy, but they lose a pretty good quarterback

this year. And remember, just two years ago, they were coming off a three-win season. Last year they had a double-digit win season. Malcolm Perry was the difference, and Malcolm Perry has gone this year. They're going to have to replace him. I think that's going to be a little tough for them this year. and then also Air Force. Air Force is another team coming off an 11-win season.

Talking to Coach Calhoun, he's very concerned about the experience level on this year's squad and their quarterback Donald Hammond is probably not going to play this year. So you add all that up, and I think Air Force may be poised to take a step back. And then probably my poster boy for this year, Colin, and it's a new head coach, inexperienced team. I think those teams are going to struggle this year. Michigan State's coming off three straight bowl games. Now they've got a brand new head coach who didn't get signed until February. Remember the fiasco they went through after Dan Antonio stepped down late.

And then Mel Tucker comes in. It did not have a single spring practice. Only has 10 returning starters coming back this year. So it's an inexperienced team. No spring practice didn't even sign the freshman class. He hasn't even seen these kids on the field. I think Michigan State takes a step back as a losing year this year. What do we make right now this morning of the Michigan football program?

Now, Harbaugh's highly polarizing, Phil, Phil Steele joining us. I have supported him saying, listen, outside of Clemson and Bama, who the hell is beating Ohio State? So I have supported him, and I do think the program is significantly better today than the last year of Brady Hoke. Where do you hold them in regard this year and the program overall? Yeah, this year, I think. they're going to take a little step back. I don't know if they're capable of contending with Ohio State. I really thought their window last year, was last year, Colin,

their window to win the Big Ten because they got them at home. There's a lot of question marks with Ohio State heading into the year with the new head coach. You thought if Michigan's ever going to beat Ohio State, it's going to be this year. They didn't get it done. This year, they only have 11 returning starters coming back, and they rank number 130 on my experience chart. Now, there are strengths. I like the defense.

Defensive line, I rate number nine in the country. They've got good special teams. quarterback play is a question coming in with Dill McAfre and Joe Milton taking over for Patterson. But I like the running backs with Haskin, Charbonnet, and they actually go five deep of running back this year, which is an improvement over last year. Four offensive linemen left for the NFL, though. Yes. That inexperience, I think, hurts them this year. I think the top two teams in the East are Ohio State and Penn State.

I believe the East comes down to that. I'm going to put Michigan a little bit of a distant third there. Yeah, and Patterson could move around. He reminded me of a poor man's Johnny Mansell. and between his loss of mobility and the offensive line, I too think Michigan takes a brief step back. A fascinating program to me is Texas. I like Tom Herman.

He can be outspoken. Again, he can be polarizing. He can be a little, I would say, precious or finicky with the media. So he doesn't build a lot of allies outside of Texas for him. I really like Sam Ellinger. I think there's a T-Boe quality to him. But I got to tell you, Phil, it feels like to me, and I would support him for you, because I think it took Davosweeney years to win. I'd give Herman another three years at Texas.

I've always thought it's a tougher job than people think it's got a lot of heavy-handed boosters and regions. But do you believe this team this year? Okay, let's say they don't beat Oklahoma. Could they win another nine or ten, eight, nine beyond that? I like this Texas team this year. In fact, I'll take this year's Texas team about a touchdown favorite over last year's next year. Wow. Remember last year, Texas only had eight returning starters coming back.

And of the three returning starters they had on defense, their secondary got wiped out. Remember heading into the Oklahoma game, they were down like four DBs, which is not the situation you want to be. And yet they stood toe to toe with Oklahoma, only lost that game by a touchdown. They've been within a touchdown the last six regular season games against the Sooners. And now they have 16 returning starters. All those injuries they had in the secondary last year give them depth in the secondary. Now, a lot of the guys started last year that weren't supposed to start. That gives them a lot of depth.

Nine returning starters. There are seven on offense. And I like Sam Allinger. I mean, he's a tough guy. The team is completely behind him. He can hurt your running and passing. The running back core is deep. I like this year's Texas team would be, as mentioned, a touchdown favorite over last year's Texas team.

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

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you'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 Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we picket 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 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, Tript 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, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way.

Open your free, our heart radio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. Phil Steele, his college football preview is out. Only 1999, angles, trends, stats, returning starters. He's got recruiting stuff in there. It is my Bible. I used to buy seven or eight of these magazines. I now have one.

It's Phil Steele's college football preview. And I love bringing him in before our season. So I live in Los Angeles and have a lot of friends who are USC boosters. and when Bama and Notre Dame were knocked off their schedules, my USC friends said, oh, Lord, we're going to actually win the Pact 12 South because the two best coaches and two best rosters are out of it. And outside of Oregon, USC matches up very well. Clay Hilton got a big break with schedules.

I like USC's offense. I don't think they have a ton of depth on the defensive side, but what do you make of the Trojans this year? You know, talk to almost every coach in the Pact 12 going through the rosters with them, and the two best rosters in the Pact 12 are clearly USC in Oregon. And I might even put USC's roster slightly ahead

because a better depth on the offensive line and improved quarterback. We look at Keaton-Slovis last year. Remember they went through three quarterbacks last year. Two of their road losses came in a first road start for a young quarterback. They lost in Notre Dame by three, and they were so beautiful.

up. Defensively, if you look over their entire defense, find me a guy that started all 13 games last year. I don't think you can find one. So they had the injuries there, injuries on the offensive line. Now they've got practically the whole team back. I think this is by far, Clay Hilton's best team. He's got 17 returning starters. I rate the quarterback unit, Slovis is up there. My number two set of receivers. I've got the defensive line and defensive backs actually in my top 20, Colin. So that's a little bit of a surprise after the way USC played defense last year. But once again, this is one of those teams where last year's injuries, give them about 24, 25 guys with starting experience coming back. And that's going to be a big

plus. I do think USC is the cream of the crop in the South. And I'm looking forward to a heck of a game in the Pac-12 title game with USC in Oregon, the two most talented rosters in the PAC-12. Before I get to some SEC topics, Oregon has a, they have recruited very well. This is a tremendous recruiting staff? And there are staffs sometimes in college football field. They're not great coaching staffs. The Ron Zook staff at Florida, but they're great recruiting staffs. Who's going to quarterback all these talented Oregon duck players? I think it's going to be Tyler Scha. Now, they did bring in a Boston college transfer in Anthony Brown, who has experience, and he's going to compete, but I believe it's Tyler Schau's team. He's 6'5. He's 229 pounds.

He was one of the top 25 quarterbacks coming out of high school, and he's a guy that the team is behind. And as you mentioned, this is a talented team. And the difference is, Colin, you watch Oregon 10 years ago, they were a trick team, gimmicky, speed on office. Mario Chris Ball wants strength and power. And you look at his defense. That defensive front is actually one of the best in the country.

I read at number six, led by Tebowdo at Defense event. Jordan Scott at Nose Tackle. They've got Javon, Holland back, and Nickelback. is a very good Oregon defense with one of the best secondaries in the country this year. In fact, I rate it the best secondary. Now, the question mark I have, offensive line. They've got the best offensive linemen in the game in Panei Sewell, but they lose four starters. If they can get that offensive line reworked, and Mario Cristobal,

Offensive Line coach, should be able to get that accomplished. And the new QB plays well, the rest of the talent is there for Oregon. And as mentioned, this is an Oregon team that I can get behind because they play defense and they play physical football. Okay, I'm going to give you my dark horse national champion and my dark horse player of the year. So my dark horse national champion is Florida. Dan Mullen, they return a ton of players. I watched them. A Mullen's offense takes a year to kind of get everybody in sync.

I think Florida is going to surprise people. I think they return a lot of starters. I like their young quarterback. That's my dark horse national championship team. Don't think they should be favored, but I think we could look up and they could be eight and no. Your thoughts on the Gators? I think they're going to be the preseason favorite to win the East this year looking around. And as you mentioned, Kyle Trask, how about the situation he stepped into

last year? This guy hadn't even started a high school football game. Steps into his first college start, does well, and actually have a 25-7 ratio. You've got to think the improvement level this year is going to be huge. Defensively, it's a top 10 defense. Last year, they had one starter back on the offensive line. The offensive line's back intact. I think, Colin, to live up to your potential, they're going to have to run the football. There were games last year where Dan Mullen was unapologetic. We're not even going to try to run.

We're just going to pass the football. And they only had 130 yards for game rush. I do think they will be able to run the ball better with the stronger offensive line and good stable of running backs. And if they get that accomplished, they could live up to your possibility. Okay, before I give you my national championship game, the most unharalded great young player in football is Arizona State's quarterback Jaden Daniels. I think he is a wizard.

I think we don't watch Arizona State much. They play some of those late games. What do you make of his talent? What Herm Edwards, by the way, his staff talk about recruiting, has been a nice job. Yeah, how about that pass he threw against Oregon when the ducks are coming back late, and it's third and long, and he steps back and hits the long touchdown pass, and bye-bye duck.

And by-bye playoff chances. Yeah, I love Jayden Daniels. And you look at just two interceptions last year as a freshman, a true freshman coming in, and he was the guy I projected to win that job. He won. He's got all the talent in the world you want at the quarterback position. Got to put a little weight on. I'd like to see this guy get a little bit bigger, and I think he will this year.

But he's got good receivers to throw to with Frank Darby and company. And, you know, I do like Jaden Day and I think he's an underrated QB. Phil Steele, finally, let me give you my national championship prediction. Clemson against Ohio State. Ohio State, again, I don't know how. many great defensive ends they can lose, Chase Young, the bosses. And we all know the Trevor Lawrence story is just give me, in your opinion, because I imagine you have Clemson, Ohio State somewhere near the top. In fact, I think you have Ohio State number one. Give me the

potential flaw for both Clemson and Ohio State because we know they're loaded. Yeah, my potential flaw for Clemson would be twofold. Number one, the offense Ryan is rebuilt. They only have one returning starter coming back on the O line. and I'm a little concerned about the wide receiver depth since Justin Ross is out for the year. Those would be my two flaws that I have with Clemson. Now, they did a really good job developing the defensive line last year. Remember they lost all those guys in the NFL, and they still had a really good D-line. If they can get that done on the offensive line, then Clemson's right there.

And with Ohio State, the major flaw for them, I think, is at the running back spot. You know, Master Teague and J.K. Dompen's that were a potent duo last year. Teague Tours Achilles in the spring. very questionable for the fall. They did bring in Trace Sermon from Oklahoma, but a depth of running back. You need some depth. And how about that one-two punch they had with Dobbins and Teague last year? I don't think this year's running backs can match that.

So that would be the potential flaws with those two teams. Philsteel.com. Love talking to you. So we got the teams. We've got a dark horse national championship team. My two favorite teams, a player to watch, USC and Texas coaching positions. Michigan as well, full plate of stuff to digest for the weekend. Phil, it's a pleasure talking to you. You know, I miss chatting with you all these years, Colin. Good to be back on with you.

So we gave you our Phil Steele preview of college football to start. And now Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated senior writer, has been in the NBA bubble in Orlando. Now, I'm just blown away by the aesthetics, the optics of the sport. But Chris is in the bubble. And Chris, first of all, great talking to you. The thing that's really blown me away is the intensity of the games. And I was talking to this about this to an NBA executive the other day. We were texting back and forth and I said, you know, there's no travel. The players look so fresh.

It feels like March madness. Have you been shocked by the intensity? These feel like playoff games so far. Yeah, I mean, I've been. surprised at how well some of these games have been played. I mean, they feel like playoff games in large part because for many of these teams, they almost are. I mean, for the six battling for that last spot in the West, it's a playoff game every single night. There's some jockeying going on in the east for seating right now, especially in that kind of three to eight range.

So there's certainly a lot of intensity there. I think what's surprised me the most is how well these teams have performed offensively so far. I thought coming in that the shooting percentages would crater. In some cases they have, I mean, there are teams like the Lakers and others that haven't shot the ball well at all. But, you know, for the most part, the majority, the shooting numbers have been pretty high. And the offensive numbers have just exploded. You don't get too many great defensive performances here in the bubble. And I think while that hasn't, you know, it's not always the prettiest game.

It does make it incredibly entertaining to see these types of numbers. What was the consensus from other players about how Lou Williams handled his actions, the strip club? I've had a theory with the Clippers that Doc Rivers came into this thing. knowing he had seating didn't matter to him. He feels he has the deepest best team. They were 11 and 1 in the 12 games. They had all their players. And the Doc Rivers, if he could find opportunities for players to, you know,

if they had to go see family or something, you know, Doc's always been very player friendly. Now, whether that's right or not, the Lou Williams situation, were people disappointed? Were they laughing in it? Were they saying, I wish I was Lou Williams? I mean, what was the reaction, maybe, you know, off record from some of the players?

Yeah, I mean, there, I'll put it this way. There wasn't a lot of sympathy for Lou Williams and the 10-day quarantine he had to go through when he came back. I mean, every player in this bubble would have killed to get one day off and go to a strip club and eat chicken wings and do whatever it was that Lou Williams did at Magic City. But, you know, this is the compromise they made with the NBA. They come back. They get their salaries. They get to compete for a championship. But the consequence is that you can't leave the bubble.

And you have to exist in an environment that's, you know, uncomfortable for you. That caused you to climb the walls inside this bubble. And Lou Williams, you know, had a legitimate reason for leaving the bubble. No question about that, but took advantage of it. And, you know, I think players, I mean, I don't think anything. anybody was frustrated with Lou Williams, they just weren't going to be siding with him on this particular issue. He tried to get away with something, and he couldn't. And it was kind of a just punishment for a player doing something like that.

Three teams interest me. Let's start with the Celtics. I like them a lot, but they look small against Milwaukee. There are times, I don't think they match up particularly well at times with Milwaukee. Toronto is a big, long team. As much as I like Boston and Brad Stevens, there are halves. There are moments. I feel they look a little physically overwhelmed at times. Is that a fair criticism?

It's a very fair criticism. And, you know, the Celtics coming into this, you know, and coming into this resumed season, they had been a top defensive team most of the year. And that's been a hallmark of these Brad Stevens teams throughout his tenure in Boston. But they've been doing it this year with a lot of smoke and mirrors. They replaced Al Horford and Aaron Baines effectively with Daniel Tice and his Cantor. And Tice is a pretty good, a very good versatile defender, off-ball defender.

Cantor can defend the post, but not much else. So they replaced two elite defenders with two average or below-average. defenders. And they were able to succeed in the regular season. But when they start going up against these big physical playoff teams, and I watched them play against Milwaukee in that opener, I watched Stephen Adams just destroy them in the exhibition season. When they go up against these big physical teams, they don't have a lot of answers. And it puts a ton of pressure on them offensively to shoot high percentages, to make threes, and to have these brilliant offensive games from Kemper Walker and Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown.

Because when they don't, you know, they're really vulnerable on the glass and they're vulnerable getting beat up by opponents in the half court. So it's going to be an ongoing concern for the Celtics. There's nobody on that roster that they can turn to. And Robert Williams had a good game this week in a matchup. They can go to him a little bit. He's been a starter for this team briefly before. But these players are not elite playoff performers.

So the Celtics, they're going to have to really be this highly efficient offensive team to be successful. The second team is Milwaukee. My statement will sound absurd when I say Chris Middleton could decide the fortunes of the next five years in the NBA. But if Chris Middleton struggles against the Toronto and he has, they're very good defensively. And Janus drops is 39 and they can't get to the finals because Chris is getting max money. it's not an attractive free agent market. They're not going to have a lot of salary cap space, right? It's coming down.

That Milwaukee's a fascinating team to me. We know Janus is superb. But if he doesn't feel he's got a two that can give him 24 against the best teams, you know, you get into that. How long do I want to be here? What do you make of Middleton, his value, his importance in the bucks going forward in the bubble? Well, it's enormous because he's. clearly the number two option on that team.

And look, he's responded this year by having a career best season. I voted it for him for a third team, all NBA guard, and his numbers certainly back that up. So there's a lot of pressure on him to have the type of season he had in the regular season, the playoffs, not just with making open shots, but, you know, being a guy that can take pressure off Janus when he comes out of games, be the lead option in spurts offensively. so there's pressure there, but I kind of flip it a little bit, Colin, and say there's much more pressure on Eric Bledsoe. I mean, Eric Bledso hasn't shown up in a lot of these in the last two postsies.

He was decent this past year, two years ago. He was awful. The point guard position is stacked across the NBA, and it's stacked in the Eastern Conference, whether it's Kemble Walker in Boston, Kyle Lowry in Toronto, and they go down the list. There are good point guards you're going to face as you're advancing the playoffs. And watching the Houston game against the game. the Bucs. Bledso didn't play because he's still getting up to speed because of his COVID situation. But Russell Westbrook just destroyed Dante Divencenzzo and George Hill. You can't, if you're the

Bucs, you can't succeed if you're getting beat up on the point of attack as often as they were against Houston. That's on Bledso. Bledsoe is not only going to have to be efficient offensively making three-point shots when they're there, but he can have to be a defensive stopper at that position. So a lot's on Middleton, sure, and he's going to get the attention of the number two guy, but, you know, Bledso to me is the ultimate wildcar for the bucks in this postseason. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, 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 with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jette. 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's 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, 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, so. 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 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. Trip 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, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Can I'm going to throw something I led my show with, this is, of course, Saturday, but on Thursday I led with this, is that we know the West is generally better than the East and the NBA. There's more stars, I think better GM.

But this year in the regular season non-bubble, winning the West like the Lakers did is not as impressive at first glance. Why? Well, the Clippers had two new stars, had to work him into their system, and Paul George missed 22 games. Blazers didn't have Nurkich outside of the bubble, and Mello got acquired once the season had already started.

Denver, Yokic was healthy, but many of the young players, other players were not. Oklahoma City was a total rebuild. Dallas, Porzingis, Luca, great, both were hurt. So winning the West, coming into the bubble is the number one seed, it's not your typical West. It was deep, but there were injuries. Dan Tony, Westbrook and Hardin get thrust together, and Dan Tony has an entirely different

staff. But now in the bubble, all of those issues have settled. Houston staff, Westbrook and Hardin. Nirkich is back. Oklahoma City now has played together. And now the Lakers actually have issues. No Rondo and Avery Bradley. The West is loaded.

Teams like Portland, Houston are a nightmare if you're struggling at guards defensively. So my takeaway has been the Lakers took advantage, because LeBron and AD worked very well quickly, they took advantage of a regular season West that was in transition. But I feel like in the bubble, the Lakers now without Bradley and Rondo defensively have some transition, some perimeter guarding issues, and everybody else is more settled. So the Lakers aren't really as formidable a one as people think. I think there's certainly some truth to that. I think that the Lakers' problems, you can throw the Bradley situation certainly at the top of the pile,

because Bradley is the guy they're going to, will need against these top flight guards, potentially beginning as early as the first round, which could be an absolute night. mayor for the Lakers if the Blazers wind up with that number one seat. What a story would be for Carmello to go up against LeBron. It may be his last chance to do anything substantial in his career. But that's neither here nor there. The Lakers, to me, one of their problems and questions coming into this postseason is one of the problems and questions you had beginning the regular season.

Can they get enough shooting? I mean, you're not worried about LeBron and him coming around. worried about Anthony Davis. These guys are going to be great in the playoffs. You are more concerned with Alex Caruso thrust into a bigger role. Contabius Caldwell Pope thrust into a bigger role. Danny Green needs to shoot the ball well, as he has in postseason before, but there's as much pressure on him now as has been in him on any postseason run he's had in recent years. These guys, many of them, are not the most reliable three-point shooters and are unproven in the postseason. And if you can't make threes, you're giving defenses carte blanche, just load up on LeBron and load up on AD and dominate that way.

I mean, you look at a potential conference finals matchup against the Clippers. If you've got Kauai Leonard who can defend LeBron James, and if you've got Montres-Harrell and a couple other big that do a decent job defending Anthony Davis, you're going to put a lot of pressure on those Lakers shooters. So watching the Lakers early on, they haven't made a lot of shots. giving me some reason for pause as we come towards the postseason. Some of those early questions that we had about this team might be rearing their head once again. When you're not covering games and when players aren't playing, golf, fish, pool, what are people doing in the bubble? Well, a lot of them are in their rooms drinking wine.

That's a big pastime here in the bubble. It really is. It's a major part of a players day. Video games, as you might imagine, are huge here in the bubble to the point where, you know, I was having this conversation with Eric Spolstra. I was saying, do you almost feel like the parent of a teenager where you're telling your your players to get out of the room and go do something? Like do something productive. And he said, yeah, we, you know, we're not going to tell guys not to play video games.

We encourage them to go play golf and go fishing and do stuff. But, you know, what I've noticed over the last week or something. so is that kind of the early novelties have worn off. Like early on, you saw all these videos on social media, the post, like guys were fishing, first-timers out there fishing. That, if you don't like fishing, that novelty wears off very quickly. Same thing with golf. I mean, there are some guys that love to golf.

Chris Paul loves to golf. Jason Tatum in Boston loves to golf. But some of these guys don't golf at all and just tried it and now walked away from it. So there's been more, I would say, anxiety over the last week or so because guys have kind of run out of things to do. And what they're doing now is hanging in their rooms. One thing that's helped is that the NBA loosened their restrictions on teams moving between hotels at the beginning. You couldn't visit other players in other hotels now. You can so that's allowed guys to have a little bit more social life with some other players.

but it's kind of starting to devolve into players going to their rooms, going to their meal rooms. I mean, I sit most of the day, Colin, in the Colorado Springs lobby, and I can't tell you, like I see the same guys trudging up and down the hallway all day long, going to the meal room, going back, going to the meal room, going back. Like, it's become a little met, but not oneness for these guys. And unfortunately, I'm not sure how much that's going to change the next couple of weeks. Chris currently in the NBA bubble in Orlando. his name is Chris Manick, Sports Illustrated Senior Writer.

It is always a pleasure. I always thought of you in the bubble anyway, an intellectual bubble. You're very smart. So now you're just your bubble boy in Orlando, which, by the way, I spent a lot of time in Florida. Orlando in the summer is no treat, by the way. Well, it's not, and it's funny. Like, we had to do the seven-day hard quarantine, and everybody's in their room, climbing the walls a little bit.

axed to get out, you get out, and I stepped outside and walked around 15 minutes, and I said, screw this, I'm going back into my room. It was 90 degrees with 88 humidity. It felt like walking through soup. So it wasn't the most pleasant experience there. But I was born to do this type of experience. I'm not married. I don't have kids. What do I care? I mean, if they could just get dominoes to deliver to me, I'd probably be down to be down there for the rest of the year. Great talking to you, buddy. You got it, Colin. Thank you so much for joining us for our Saturday podcast.

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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was 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. 84 was a wild year. 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. 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, 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 IHeart 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. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.