The Kevin Sheehan Show - Landon Collins Predicts Super Bowl(s)

Episode Date: May 17, 2019

Kevin opens with some Nats, Warriors-Blazers, and a few recent quotes from Landon Collins. While talking about the drafting of Dwayne Haskins, Collins told NJ.com...."great guy, great quarterback, humble guy, down to earth, ready to ball, ready to tear up the Giants defense for the next five years and continue on from there. I think we're going to go get one (a Super Bowl) or a couple of them." Scott Jackson was a guest on the show talking Wizards' GM search and NBA Playoffs. Kevin and Aaron finish up the show with a season finale Game Of Thrones preview. <p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p> Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You want it. You need it. It's what everyone's talking about. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Now here's Kevin. All right, I am here this morning. So is Aaron. This show is presented by Window Nation. If you're in the market for Windows, call 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com and tell them that we told you to call. Scott Jackson will be on the show today with me and we'll do the NBA with him and even mention get an update from him on what he thinks the Wizards will do at General Manager. I'll tease the NBA conversation by saying, Aaron, that I'm very happy that the Blazers covered last night, the seven. It went to seven at tip. Started to sweat at the end there. Yeah, I had Portland last night and gave that out on the show yesterday. But they blew a huge chance to win a game in this series.

It was all on them, too. I really felt like it was. I still don't think they're out of it, though, but we'll do the NBA with Scott in a little bit. Aaron and I will preview Game of Thrones the finale. I'm set for Sunday night. We'll talk about the end of one of the greatest television shows of all time. We'll do it at the end of the podcast, despite the fact that many of you, and now I think closing in on 800,000 people have petitioned for the final season to be redone.

That would be fascinating. We get to the end of Sunday night. of a sudden HBO says, you know what? We're going to redo the final season in air it in 2021. The Nats beat the Mets yesterday, 7 to 6 to win their series with the Mets, and with the Phillies now having lost

three games in a row, the Nats are just six back. It's a long season, people. A long season. Tommy had his charity event last night at Shelley's. Great time. I was down there for it. Mike Rizzo was there, the Nats GM. Dave Martinez, the Nats manager.

after they beat the Mets stopped by as well. Really nice to see them support Tommy's cause for the DC Graze. Great cause. Youth baseball in D.C. Grays. Tommy's been doing this now, I think five or six years. But Mike Rizzo was there. Dave Martinez was there, and I caught up with Rizzo a little bit. We chatted for a little bit, and he'll come on the podcast soon.

I'm not going to bother him, but he said he would absolutely come on. so we'll find a good spot for him in the next few weeks and have him on the podcast. I've always liked Mike. He's one of my favorite GMs in town. Actually, probably my favorite GM in town. He's smart. He's tough. He did tell me that Tray Turner, and I think the news broke this morning. Maybe it did last night that Tray Turner is going to be back in the lineup for this series with the Cubs this weekend. Shurzer Cole Hamils tonight. It'd be nice to see Shurzer get some run support, have him pitch well. see if the Nats can get to what I think would be their first three-game winning streak of the season.

The PGA championship, Scott told us, Van Pelt told us yesterday, Brooks Kepka, and Kepka was in the midst of a good first round when he said that, but he had picked him in a golf pool that I'm actually in that same pool with Scott, and Kepka went out and shot 63 yesterday, seven under par. Today, so far this morning, disaster all over the course. Rory McElroy, who by the way was one of my two picks. For the majors, you get two picks in the pool that I'm in. I have Garcia and McElroy.

Don't ask me why. You can't use the same golfer twice during the course of the PGA season, and I've used a lot of good guys. I had Tiger and the Masters as one of my two picks. But McElroy started the round five over par through his first four holes. Not good. And as of now, he's seven over. so no chance for McElroy.

And Scott did tell us yesterday, he said this is going to be a big boy leaderboard. It's not going to include McElroy, but so far Kepka and Dustin Johnson's making the big move here early in the second round. So I agree with him. I think by the time we get to Sunday, it's going to be some big boys on that leaderboard. And I think, you know, I am waiting to see if Tiger can go out and shoot a good number today to, to A, make the cut, because his plus two is probably going to be right near the cut line, probably inside of it. But if he were to go a couple over par today, he could be on the wrong side of the cut.

But can he go out and shoot 68, 67, and get himself back into this thing? We'll find out later today. So Landon Collins, the Redskins safety acquisition, big free agent acquisition from the New York Giants. He's been doing a ton of interviews over the last week, and last night I got caught up on several of them, and I wanted to go through them with you some of the quotes that he's had over the last few days that I think are interesting. He was interviewed by Ian Rappaport. Ian Rappaport asked him about the quarterback, you know, Haskins and what he thought of Haskins. and Collins said, quote, honestly, I thought he was going to the Giants.

That's who I thought they were going to get, meaning Haskins to the Giants. That's who I thought they needed, but they decided to go elsewhere. When I saw we picked him up, I was like, we just stole the best quarterback, closed quote. That was Landon Collins talking about Dwayne Haskins. He also had this to say about Dwayne Haskins. He said, quote, he's a humble kid. Very, very, very down to earth. Loves to smile, loves to play around.

But when it comes to playing football, when it comes to putting in the work, that's what he's going to do. Great arm, great accuracy. I'm excited to have him. I know the organization is. And other teams are going to be afraid of him, said Landon Collins. He was also asked in another interview about, you know, the contract that he signed here and the Giants letting him go after four seasons. And he said, quote, I was kind of heartbroken.

It was very, very eye-opening. And then he said, you know, he had told ESPN on draft night, I'm more motivated than ever before. and he then said about Haskins being picked up. And remember when Haskins was drafted by the Redskins on draft night, Haskins made the quote, the league done messed up, closed quote. And that quote, by the way, is going to be attached to Haskins for his career.

Because if the league done messed up, you know, he was right. If he goes out there and kills it and Daniel Jones doesn't, the league actually done messed up. But if he doesn't go out and kill it and Daniel Jones ends up being the quarterback, he's going to look foolish for having said it. But that is a quote. Let's be fair here. It doesn't matter how old he is.

It doesn't matter the circumstance when he fell to 15 and he believes he fell to 15 and Daniel Jones got selected before him and he made the comment, the league done messed up. That is a quote, we're never going to forget. No one's ever going to forget that quote. Anyway, about that quote and about his reaction, Landing Collins told New Jersey.com, NJ.com, quote, he said, we're ready to, about Haskins, quote,

he's ready to tear up the Giants defense for the next five years and continue on from there. I think we're going to get a Super Bowl title or a couple of them, closed quote. So there you go. It doesn't take long, does it, for people to arrive in Ashburn and start over-promising? And it just for whatever reason, and I'm not suggesting it doesn't happen in other places. It doesn't happen in a lot of places that actually, you know, win a lot and consistently. But in places where there isn't winning, you get a lot of, you know, bold predictions.

You get a lot of boasting. And Landon Collins, I liked the signing. I'm in favor of them having signed Landon Collins. I know it was a lot of money for a safety. I said it at the time, and it was, but I like the signing because I like the player, and I like him. Everything I've read about him, Landon Collins is a leader in your locker room. He's smart. He's tough.

He is going to be there, and on top of that, he's a really good player. But isn't it incredible, incredible about what happens to these players when they arrive here? Now, maybe Landon Collins was a big talker in New York. You know, you may tweet me a bunch of his quotes from New York, and that's fine, but New York didn't win anything when he was there either. You know, they've been a losing organization for the last few years, which he was a part of. But when you say about the new rookie quarterback who is yet to throw his first pass,

who's already told everybody the league done messed up, and then you're going to add to that, that he's going to tear up the Giants defense for the next five years, years and continue on from there. I think we're going to get a Super Bowl title or a couple of them. You got some actions now that you've got to be out there and back up your words. I mean, this is an organization that has told us and not showed us for a long time. And every off-season, and we always keep track of these things, whether it was the year where, you know, Brent Williams and some of the offensive linemen were talking about this is the best offensive line of football.

We're going to be a top five rushing team. And then they ended up closer to the bottom of the league. Ryan Clark came in, came back to Washington talking about this is the best secondary he's ever been a part of. He played with Troy Palomalu. And he's talking about the Redskins secondary is one of the best he's ever played with. You know, we've had the funny moments, ridiculous moments of Rex Grossman saying everybody, sleeping on us, we're going to win the NFC East. It's unbelievable what happens.

I can't explain it. It's clearly part of the culture of being able to say whatever you want to say without any consequence. And it's just one of these days, perhaps. I'm not counting on it. I'm hoping for it. But one of these days, I'd actually like to see them when the season starts. actually give us some action to back up the words, give us some wins to back up the bold proclamations

that seem to happen from about February until about August, late August. And then the season starts, and, you know, it's always someone else's fault. It's the injuries, it's this, it's that, and they seem to forget what they said. But Landon Collins predicting not one, not two, but probably two. But I mean, my God, I don't know if anybody else had already seen these quotes or any of them, and maybe I just got around to them last night,

but it is something else. I want to get to another thing real quickly because I read something very early this morning that I wanted to share with everybody, and everybody can go read it on their own. It's in ESPN, the magazine, which I think, by the way, Aaron is folding, right? They're going to stop producing.

The physical magazine, yeah. The physical magazine. So I still get the physical magazine delivered. And it's part of my ESPN subscription. You know, the whatever I pay on an annual basis to get all of the premium content on ESPN.com, they also send you, as they have for years, the physical magazine. This is a story written by Tom Junod or Junud. I don't know how it's pronounced.

It's J-U-N-O-G-E-E. D. The story is called Steph Curry from Deep and then the sub heading is before the Warriors Guard could inspire a generation to believe that no shot was impossible. He had to believe it himself. This is the story

of the relationship that helped unleash his powers. And it's a story primarily about his relationship with his college coach Bob McKillop. Bob McKillop has been considered for a long period of time now, one of the best college basketball

coaches in the country. He coaches at Davidson. He's been there since 1989. He has over 500 wins, as Davidson's head coach. He has had opportunities to take a much bigger step, but he has stayed at Davidson. He's an excellent basketball coach. Ask any coach at any level that knows anything about college basketball coaches, and they will tell you that Bob McKillop is a top five, no worse, no worse than a top 10 college basketball coach. There are some very interesting things in there about his relationship with Steph Curry, but that's not what I want to read to you. There's another story in here that gets woven into the bigger story,

which is Steph Curry's relationship with McKillop, the confidence that McKillop gave Steph Curry, the green light that he gave Steph Curry, as long as Steph Curry earned it. There's a lot of good stuff about that. And then a lot of stuff with Steve Kerr and what Curry, learned about Curry, et cetera. But there's another story in here that I think, I don't know, it was really interesting to me and actually moving in a little bit in a little bit of a way for me. And I wanted to share it with all of you. You can go and read it yourself. But it was

in the midst of the story, the reporter who by the way played high school basketball for Bob McKillop, when Bob McKillop was the head basketball coach at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville, New York, many, many years ago. At some point during their sit-down interview, the reporter and Bob McKillop are speaking, and McKillop is talking about sort of the differences between handling kids today and handling kids way back in the day. And he said, at one point, he said, hold on, let me find it here, he said, the biggest change in basketball has less to do with the game itself than with the

culture in which it's played in the kids who play it. They're different, McIllop says, because anxiety is such a reality in their lives, because they require greater sensitivity and greater attention to the balance between love and discipline. You have to be careful about what you say to them. You have to give them reassurance. The things that you experienced as a player back at Holy Trinity could never happen today. And I think a lot of you that are probably my age, a little bit younger, maybe older or a lot older, we've had this sense, right, that the athlete today, the kid today, is just a different being, that they have to be handled so much differently, you know, with more love, with more encouragement, with more assurance, and less discipline. And McKillop says it. You know,

He says they're different because anxiety is such a reality in their lives because they require greater sensitivity and greater attention to the balance between love and discipline. You have to be careful about what you say to them. You have to give them reassurance. And again, the things that you experienced as a player back at Holy Trinity could never happen today. And that leads in to him asking the reporter, Tom Junad, who played for you. for him in high school at Holy Trinity High School. He says, do you remember Timmy Timlin?

And the reporter did remember Timmy Timlin. And he goes on to tell the story of Timmy Timlin. He said it was 1974. Timlin was a shooter with a Prince Valiant haircut. And when he came late for practice, McKillop thought he saw arrogance. McIllip said, I had to be the tough guy. I had to be the hard ass. So I made him run suicides. Most of you know what suicides are, but for those that don't, basically it's you line up on one baseline. You run to the free throw line, then back, then to half court, and then back, then to the other free throw line and back, and then full length court and back, sprinting all the way. And he said, I made him run suicides. I made him run until he said, coach, I can't run anymore.

And I said, are you quitting this team? He said, I'm not quitting. I just can't run anymore. MacKillop told Timmy Timlin back in 1974, then you're quitting, I said. And when he showed up the next day for practice, I said, what are you doing here? Don't you remember? You quit the team. And then the writer writes,

coaching is a lot like parenting. You can't do it without making mistakes. But some mistakes you can't forget. And from MacKillop, Tim Timlin is one of them. because apparently, and MacKillop says this, quote, apparently he doesn't forget either, speaking of Timlin. I've been told that every time we play, meaning Davidson, he checks the score and it makes his day if we end up on the wrong side of the ledger.

Closed quotes. So something that has stuck with the coach and with that player for all of these years. At the very end of the story of this story about Steph Curry and Bob McKee, primarily, he comes back to the story of Timmy Timlin. And the reporter called Timlin for this story. And he said that when I find Tim Timlin on Long Island and ask him, if he remembers Bob McKillop, he answers as though he had been waiting for the question. And he said, quote, I loved him.

He coached me when I was playing JV ball and I was his leading score. But he asked me to quit football and devote myself. to basketball and when I told him no, he shook his head and that was it. I could never go to a game after that. My insides turned over every time I stepped into that gym and that's never gone away. Closed quote. Now, he sort of tells a story that's a little bit different in detail than the one McKillop tells Timlin. The writer then tells Timlin, I tell him about what McKillop had said about him, about how his memory of what he'd done to Timlin had not only stayed with him, but changed him and how much those changes mattered when it came to another great shooter who came along,

and that was Steph Curry. And that's how he took that learning from 1974. And by the time Curry got to Davidson, that story of how he made Tim Timlin, or threw him off the team, had stuck with him. And Timlin said, quote, I forgive the guy. I was supposed to forgive him a long time ago. And the beauty of this is God giving me the chance to be a better man. It's about time I forgive him and start rooting for him a little bit. Tell him for that. He said, tell him that for me. Closed quote. And then the writer says, I did, and I told McKillop, and McKillop shook his head.

His creased face still unmistakably the kind of Irish Catholic face I grew up with. The face of the choir boy, the face of the cop, the face of the coach, the face of the confessional. Quote from McKillop, I should have, he said, quote, Bob McKillop says, quote, I should have told him, I'm sorry, a long time ago. It's one of those scars I have as a coach. Believe me, I have a lot of scars. You just don't think sometimes. You don't realize the weight of your words.

But you keep learning, even if sometimes the learning is painful. One of the things that has helped me in coaching is the kids today. They're different. If Tim Tim Timlin was my player today, what I would do is still throw him out of practice, but then the next day ask him to come meet with me and explain to him what I was thinking and what I need from him instead of being the tough guy in charge of basketball coach who's going to make a statement about him and win that war. Close quote.

And then the writer writes, he shakes his head again as if recovering from a slap or trying to snap himself out of a sleep. Then he smiles and says, quote, Timmy Timlin, he could really shoot it. You got his phone number by any chance? closed quote. I thought it was a really, really great story about this incredible basketball coach that I have followed as a huge basketball fan. He's been one of the best. And, you know, I think a lot of people can just relate to that in life where you've made a mistake many,

many years ago and it hasn't been sort of resolved. And so this writer, through this story, looks like he's about to resolve that and that they're going to end up speaking, or at least He's got his phone number, and he'll call him. By the way, the portion of the story about Steph Curry is really, really good as well. I would urge you to read it. I'm sure you can find it online somewhere, right? You don't have to get the physical magazine, I would think, to read that story. But it was really good.

I don't usually do that, but I read that early this morning, and I thought it was really, really good. All right, Scott Jackson's coming up here shortly, and then we will get to a few other things, and, of course, we will do a Game of Thrones preview for the finale. I hope you're not going to play dress-up and go to some party and watch it, Aaron. No, actually, I might have a party, but no, it would be... How can you have a party for a show like this

where you've got too many people in the room that are talking too much? I don't understand that. I don't understand that people that are planning to go to bars to watch this. Going to a bar, going to anything like that. No, it would be have people over, bust out the White Walker, Johnny Walker, scotch that's in my freezer right now and do shots every time someone dies. Hope it's a good scotch. A quick word about Window Nation.

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New windows save energy, improve the look and value of your home, and they're now 50% off with no down payment, no payments, and no interest for a full year plus free blinds. Call wind donation today. You have no risk because they will come out to your home the next day and give you a free in-home estimate. And that estimate that they give you is good for a full year. The school year is about to end and so is this deal. call now 86690 Nation or go online at windonation.com. That's 86690 Nation or windownation.com and tell them that I told you to call. All right, let's bring in Scott Jackson. Of course, Scott many years at 980 and still occasionally at 980 and a longtime friend and coworker for many, many years. And we've had them on the podcast already a couple of times.

But I was thinking about having a conversation about the game last night. the two series, and I'd rather do it with you, but also we've got a wizard situation, which is they still don't have a general manager. So why don't we start there? Now that Denver season is over, I'm assuming that Tim Connolly is the frontrunner. Am I wrong? Yeah, I mean, look, you don't have to be Adrian Morgianowski to have been able to read the tea leaves here that they've been obviously slow playing this thing for an opportunity to talk to Tim Connolly, who I think by all accounts would see this as, a dream job. His wife is the D.C. native. He's a Baltimore guy. I grew up around here,

grew up in this organization, as we know. So, yeah, I mean, there's no question that there's, there's an interest on both sides there, and it's just, I think, it's going to come down to do they make it worth as well to leave Denver, which is obviously a very good situation. He's built something pretty good there right now. Yeah, he has. They've got a good team, and they should have a good team for a few years to come. Tell everybody who's not familiar with Tim Connolly, what kind of GM you think he would be? Well, look, he's a guy who's grown up in the business. He wasn't like just given this job because he was some star player or anything like that.

And I'll equated to this, I used to, when I did the Wizards pre-imposed him, I used to sit next to this guy to work for the Miami Heat. A young-looking kid, didn't really know a whole lot about him, but he was scouting, he was one of their band scouts. And he used to have his computer program that had the plays on it. And he would bring it back each time. Everybody else is writing on the old school, you know, basketball tablet. it's, you know, pen and paper, I should say, pads.

And this guy had a computer, and I started getting to know this guy over games, and his name was Eric, Eric Spolstra. And, you know, he played a Portland state. It wasn't a star by any means, but was a tough, hard-nosed kid. And he was just, you know, working his way through the huge organization. Next thing I know, he was sitting behind the bench. And then before I knew it, he was sitting on the bench next to Pat Riley, and eventually, obviously he was the guy who coached them to multiple championships

with LeBron James. But, you know, I kind of look at Tim like that. I was a young guy in the wizard organization, assistant, video director, saw him as an advance scout. When I lived in Carolina, I was working down there for a few years. I would run into Tim. We would keep in contact and see him on the road, whether it be at Durham or Chapel Hill.

He was down there, you know, getting out of Van Scouting. He went to New Orleans for a while, was in that front office, worked with them during that weird transition where the league owned them. Obviously, he's going out to Denver and done some good things. And I think he's got a good grasp for the international player, which this organization outside of Saddam Husky has not really had a very good grasp but the international player. Before that, I think he understands kind of, you know, what kind of what it needs to look

like these days. I mean, he'll be the first to admit that he didn't expect a Joker to be what he is right now, but they still were smart enough to take him. I mean, they've, look, they've got, you know, some interesting things to come, you know, if he goes or stays. I mean, it's a good situation there. They've got Millsaps deal, but overall, that's not like a crazy salary cap situation there. I just think he would, you know, give this thing some fresh eyes.

I don't think it'd be an extension of their early Grunfield era, like a lot of people want to say. I think he would do some things, you know, differently. I don't know how much leeway he'd be given to, you know, maybe he came in and said, hey, I want to move Brad Beale. I don't know if that would be allowed to happen or maybe that's one of the conversations they're having now. Or would I be able to move John Wall?

Not that I think it's even cumulably possible, Kevin. But, you know, I just think it will be different. I don't think it's just going to be patchwork, like let's grab Dwight Howard, let's grab, you know, said veteran, this guy and that guy. I think it's going to be a little bit more of the, you know, let's grow this thing, let's go to the draft, let's get young, players in here, let's develop some people, and, you know, keep the ones we like and move the ones that we don't see fitting for some better asset at some point. You know, I think you and I were

pretty much aligned for a long period of time that we thought the discussion about Ernie Grunfeld was always exaggerated, you know, when people would say he's the worst general manager in the game. No, he wasn't. But he clearly wasn't one of the best. He's gone now, and I'm assuming you read that Candace Buckner piece from last week, I think it was. We're really, you know, The quotes revealed, you know, a situation that was a situation that my partner, Tommy, you know, talked about for many years, which was it was just there wasn't enough discipline. There was too much, you know, entitlement for the best players in the organization. And ultimately, that was a major problem.

I mean, I'm an Ernie fan. I like him personally. I never thought he was terrible. I think some of the best trades of the last, you know, 15 years in the NBA. a couple of them were executed by Ernie Grunfeld. But do you sort of feel the way I do that it was time? I mean, I felt that way for a couple of years, actually, and that maybe the biggest problem he had is he was just too good of a guy.

Yeah, I think there was definitely time. And, you know, again, I think people need to also take the longer look here, right? Ted Leonis has been the owner for about 10 years. He was the owner waiting for the previous 10 as well, and he had his eyes in this team for a long time. So I think he had a good feel for what went on at the end of the Apollina era and who was making some of those decisions. I mean, there's always things that happen in organizations that are all, you know, on the GM's plate. You know what I mean?

Like he can want to do something, but he's going to do what his guy wants them to do. Much like this year when he had to shed salary and move on a porter on a deal to get under the luxury tax. I mean, that's certainly not something already woke up and decided, hey, we've got to get rid of the luxury tax. He's not paying for it. I mean, that's the owner who's deciding that. And I'm not against him doing that because, I mean, I think bad business to be in the luxury tax, unless you're the gold. to say Warriors or one of those teams. I mean, Mark Cuban has been avoiding it like the plague after being in it for many, many years.

So I don't think that's the worst thing in the world. And I just think at the end of the first era of Rudy Grunfeld, which is the Apollone area, you know, unfortunately they made some short-sided decisions because there was this, let's hurry up and win now for Abe, you know, kind of thing. That's true. And it hurt them because they should have stayed in some drafts that they could have gotten some value in a lot of stuff. Curry draft and a few others.

But, you know, those kind of things. But, yeah, I mean, I think it was time. I think at some point, you know, these guys, if you're not making progress, you've got to make changes. I give Ted credit. I mean, I know it wasn't easy for him. He liked Ernie. He trusted Ernie. And, you know, and I think he was on board with a lot of stuff Ernie did.

And I think that would always be the interesting thing to find out that you never do in these situations, because Ernie's not going to say anything bad about Ted and vice versa. But, you know, I think that's always part of it. I mean, I don't think it's always just one person's decision. I think it's a group decision. And I think that's one of the things that has, you know, kind of, I think, publicly worked against. Tommy Shepard here in this situation, which I think is too bad for Tommy. Because I do think Tommy, you know, given a chance, maybe it's going to have to be somewhere else,

could do well as a GM. But it sure feels like right now the Wizards are all in on Tim Connolly. And if that doesn't work, I think Troy Weaver seems to be in the second best position right now. DC Native who's got ties with Scott Brooks, you know, 10 years in that Oklahoma City organization for him. And I think, you know, I think that would be the fallback move if this thing doesn't work out with Tim. Before we get to the four teams that are still playing, this is a franchise where, you know, it was just a couple of years ago, two in fact, where they were, you know, within a whisker of being in the Eastern Conference

finals as a healthy group with the team that looked like it would have a chance to contend for, you know, an Eastern Conference championship over the next few years. It was close to getting there. And with LeBron out of the conference, it would have looked even more, you know, plausible had they stayed healthy, had the team contend. But where do they go from here? You clearly cannot trade John Wall. No one is going to take that contract in certainly the injury history.

And they could be on the verge. And I don't know what you think the chances of Beal making the top three NBA, all NBA teams. But if he makes the third team, he's going to be available for a supermax extension. And what would they do then? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, that's a tough one. I think he actually has a real good chance. I mean, they've got to be rooting, they've got to be rooting internally for him not to make one of those three teams.

I know. I mean, the unfortunate thing is you really have to play this wall thing out. And history is not on his side when you look at Achilles injuries and feed players. I mean, for me, I hope to think wherever John Wall is right now, whether he can only sit in a chair or stand up with a cart, he's working on that broken jumper his. And just, I mean, he's got to reinvent himself, you know. He's got to have more to his game than just. just the change of speeds and blowing by everybody. He's a very good passer, but he's not developed the way Bradley Beal's developed. Let's be honest, Bradley Beal has rounded his game up very nicely, has added a lot of things.

You can watch Bradley Beal from day once and out, say, man, he's really taking it to another level. I think John had a chance to after that big season that became winning it's Boston two years ago and whether we want to blame the injuries or not. Remember, he was healthy during the whole stupid wolf season debacle where he was out there wearing ugly sweaters and getting his ass kicked on a nightly basis by these elite players that he was supposed to go eat, you know, Eidon. But, you know, I think there's a lot of things, you know, about the Ernie era, the failures. And Scott Brooks, by the way, who's the head coach, and Ted Leonis, who's the owner, has been the John Wall thing. And I think that was kind of

missed in Candace's piece, to be honest with you. I mean, you care about the regurgents crap about Gilbert Arenas that happened, you know, 10 to 15 years ago at this point. Right. There's more recent stuff. there's a lot more recent stories that were totally blown by on that piece that kind of blew me away. And I think a lot of it was self-preservation because you've got to live on that beat. And that guy's still the most important person in the franchise, even though he's not playing for at least another year. But anyway, going back, I mean, they really are in the business that is hoping a guy John Wall shows up with the right mindset and comes back to prove everybody wrong that he's not done and that he gives him some type of value in the remaining years of that contract or at least the first year of it. So then maybe you could find somebody who would be interested in him to move him.

You know, I mean, I think that's what you've got to do. I just don't think there's an easy way out of it. And I don't know if you get better by trading Brad Biel. I mean, it sounds cool. Hey, we've got all these ticks back or whatever you get, this guy, that guy. But, I mean, you've got to explore it, I'm sure. If you're the new guy, whoever that ends up being, or there's Tim or somebody else, you've got to think about it.

But, man, you finally have a guy who's really developed on your watch, you know, that you drafted. You know, much like John was before, you know, they kind of went off the rails, you know, the last couple seasons. You know, and Satteransky's another one, but there's been too many, you know, obviously stories of guys that didn't get better that were here and then, you know,

went other places and won, you know. And it was frustrating, but, you know, that's a tough spot, man. I don't know what they're going to do. If it comes to the Super Max or Brad, I really don't. It's a tough point in this organization right now.

It's amazing how quickly things change in just a few years. And they could have changed their fortune the other night in the lottery. Yeah. But it went sideways. Now, it doesn't mean that the ninth pick overall won't end up being the best player in this draft. You never know how that works out. But they haven't been able to identify that player. It seems like that player always goes five, six, seven spots after their first round selection,

Kauai Leonard, Steph Curry, et cetera. And they traded away that pick in 2009. All right, let's talk about the two series. First of all, do you think the Blazers, I still think the Blazers are going to win a game or two. I thought they would win two. They blew a chance last night. And I didn't spend a lot of time talking about the game, but I thought one of the real interesting things about that game is that they turned it over so much in game one. And then, you know, for whatever reason, they were having a difficult time down the stretch with the double off the pick and roll. Lillard in particular

looked really shaky, you know, at times. But I think, I still think they're good enough to win two games in this series do you? They've got to win game three. If they don't win game three, I mean, this could be the first sweep we've seen for the Warriors, because the Warriors usually don't make, you know, don't do these four-in-a-row deals. But, yeah, look, I think they still have the chance to win some games. I don't think they'll win the series. I said this last week on radio when Durant was out, I said, look, you guys are crazy

if you think Houston's one of the series. They're not going to happen. You know, Steph Curry had been here and all the crap for weeks about how he wasn't as good as he used to be. he's been sacrificed in Draymond Green's sacrifice. Clay Thompson's a sacrifice, you know, for Duran. I mean, all these guys. The ball moves better when Katie's not on the floor because it has to.

And it's incredible to watch them play. It's beautiful, actually, to watch the play. The way they move it, the way they trust each other. I mean, they throw in Ale Eops to Keevon Looney, for goodness. They laid this game on some critical possessions. Yeah, green finishing for him. So, you know, they look like a team that, you know, as a champion. And they are.

And even guys that weren't part of, or big parts of this championships now are stepping up for them. And I think it's great to watch. And I think that my bigger takeaway is that Portland's not a good defensive team. God, they were terrible last night. Terrible last night. And terrible in game one, too. Game one, they were blaming the big problem with you. I was more about last night, you know, Lillard and then C.J. McCollum, you know,

some crappy possessions offensively that led to some bad defense as well. I mean, even Seth Curry thrown the ball into the front road of cancer. But I will say this. If you're on the bench and you're standing up, put your damn jersey, put your warm-up jacket on over your jersey. Because he looked like he was in play. Oh, on the Seth Curry turnover. Yeah, yeah, you're right. Yeah, yeah.

He looked like he was on the floor because he's standing up with his jersey. I was like, hey, dummy, put a sweatshacket on or something, you know? I'm here it. But anyway, I just think, look, you're seeing, I don't want to be too hard on Portland because I also think we're seeing a championship team, do what a championship team does. Now, I heard Charles Barkley, who was always the most entertaining person in the NBA said this morning they can't win against Milwaukee without, you know, without KD. I mean, everybody's like moving the goalpost on them.

First, they couldn't be Houston without Katie. Now, he couldn't be played without without King. Oh, okay. Yeah. Right. Now, it can't be Portland, not Katie. Oh, but now you can be, you can't be the bucks without Katie. I mean, whatever.

I mean, I think they can do whatever they want. I think we forget they would have had two in a row before the summer of KD had the NBA decided they didn't need LeBron to win that championship so badly in Cleveland when they obviously, you know, kicked Ramon Greenoff for two games, which is excessive. I mean, that was ridiculous. But anyway, I think that's, you know, what we're seeing right now. It's a team that they trust each other. They make all the right plays at the right times.

And, you know, Curry's, you know, getting to shine after everybody's like, well, he's stuck in the playoffs or the championship round, I should say, for all these years. He's never been the MVP, the finals, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, now when they need him to be more of himself, he can be. Yeah, a couple of things that you said there. A couple of things off of what you said. First of all, it has been, you know, it's cliche to say, hard. of a champion, but what we've seen, you know, starting in the third quarter, late third quarter of game five against Houston is really the definition of what a champion does.

I mean, and, you know, you would mention before about, you know, the Draymond Green absence in the year that they lost to Cleveland. If he's there for game five, they win that series four, one, and they've got two in a row, and LeBron never gets the title in Cleveland. And it was a championship team without Durant. It's just very odd to think that you can take, arguably, and this has been debated over the last few weeks, the best player in the NBA off of a team, and that team can still be a championship team. But one of the things I'm so frustrated in watching Portland, and I think Terry Stott's does a pretty decent job, but they have, for whatever reason, they've been flummoxed by this trapping off the pick and roll. and it's really worn Lillard and McCollum out here in the first two games,

and it turned them over a ton in game one. They should just use McCollum as the screener, or they should screen for each other, because once they do that, it's going to be really hard to trap the ball if you can dump it off to the guy dropping right into the middle of the floor, and that guy's not Myers-Leonard or Harkless, but it's actually either Lillard or McCollum,

if they're doubling off that screen, and that pick and roll. I don't know why they haven't done that yet, but they should. But back to Durant for a moment. Like, I have a sense that they can't beat Milwaukee. I don't know that I felt that way as they were, and I was rooting like hell for them to beat Houston in game five and in game six. You know, I'm still waiting for the Houston, Scott,

the Houston report that shows that 5.7 points were taken away from them in game six with all of the miss calls. There were 175 foul with all the missed calls. I mean, they're such losers. in the way they've handled themselves over the last year. But Milwaukee, and I did not believe in it before the playoffs started because I always felt you've got to earn it, and this would be the year that they'd win a series, maybe two,

but then that would be it. They can't win a title that comes next year or the year after, but they are the best team. I mean, I think Golden State would be in a bit of trouble in the finals against Milwaukee. I'd be rooting for them, and I'm rooting for Toronto. actually. I hope they can make it a series. I don't think they can. But I think they do need Durant. That's the one thing Barkley has said, and you said that he said that this morning,

and I think I read that, I think they do need him to beat Milwaukee. Well, it would seem to, right, because you need this tall slender guy to deal with the other tall slender guy who goes out there. I think it would be an interesting series. I think this whole thing has become so much more interesting without KD playing. And I, you know, hey, me too. I totally agree with that. But I think it's been more interesting. I think it would have been boring had he played, I think it would have been quick work with all these series, including the Houston series. Not that it wasn't anyway without him. But, you know, yeah, I think they could use him. I haven't really gone that far yet and really breaking down every single matchup or what

have you. But yeah, Milwaukee Pearson's a deeper team. They'd also have the Hulk floor, which, you know, is a big deal, obviously, for them. And, you know, not happen to be in, you know, Oakland, you know, four times, only three times if it goes seven. So that's huge as well. But, you know, I wouldn't, I would not count out, you know, the Warriors. And again, what do the Warriors look like getting through this thing? Can they get through this series quickly? You can get some rest. Do they suffer any more injuries? I mean, they can't afford, this is the thing without FKD. Like, you can't lose any of the Hampton Four now, right? I mean, you can't afford anybody to get whatever, whether it's Curry with another finger

issue or a hamstring or whatever, or play with an ankle. You know what I mean? You can't have any of that now, or Draymond with a suspension. I mean, those are the things that you kind of guard against now if you're the Warriors. And that's why I think these next few games are held, whether Portland wins it or not, are important for whoever is sitting on the other side of the east, right? If Portland can kind of drag this thing out a little bit, if nothing else, then that's huge for the Eastern Conference champion, because if you get

Golden State sitting there waiting and the other series is dragging on a little bit, I think that's a tough scenario, too, especially to get KD back on the floor. You know, they've already ruled them out of games. It sounds like 3, 4, and 5, the way they're talking about it, but at least for three and four for sure. But I think

it's, you know, any way it breaks down, I think it's interesting, and either the wear-down impact, you get a one or two about Portland. I saw it the other night. It looked like, Kauai Leonard, funny. I mean, maybe your wind was a little stronger from playing this year. Maybe you wouldn't have worn down late in the fourth quarter. I don't know. It's kind of weird when you see stuff like that. People are on a pitch count all year, and then you need him to do a little bit extra, and it seems like they get tired. Well, yeah, I mean, given the minutes that he had to play in the last series,

I mean, I've enjoyed watching him. I don't know what the hell happened in San Antonio, but he's been phenomenal. The conversation before Durant got heard about who the best player in the game was because we were seeing three unbelievable playoff runs from Durant, Kauai, and Janice, with no LeBron to talk about. Leonard's as good as any of them in terms of, you know, both ways, defensively and offensively.

He's a terrific player. He's a terrific player, but there's a conversation about him being on the same level as number 23 is Bonnerworthy because that guy actually played 82 games every year. And if you would have ever stood in front of Michael George with a microphone or asked him if he needed a minutes limit. He would have shot you a stare that made you look like you were going to laser beams coming through your body. And he did that at the age of 40 to people who would ask him about minutes

when he's at the wizard. So you imagine in his bold days when he was the best player in the world, not even there wasn't anybody close to him. I mean, that's, that sort of blows me away with all this stuff that goes on, all the technology and all these teams want to tell you how smart they are and with all the analytics and all the medical things they have. And then this guy play, you know, what, two-thirds of the season just to have him ready for this time of year. And now we're wondering if he's wearing down. I'm like, really? And somebody's going to go, gaga, and pay how much money for him this off season

and make him the face of a franchise potentially. And you're going to tell people to buy season tickets, but you can't insure them he's going to actually show up for games because it's a night of built-in rest. I mean, come on. What's the world coming to? I can't stand any of the conversations comparing anybody to 23, including the more recent number 23.

But that's me. Yeah, that one, too. He already picked his retirement plan in L.A., so we don't even talk about it right now. Except now there's potential he may end up in Philadelphia. That would be. How great with that. That would be awesome. But one of the things about the Bucks, and I was just looking for this as you were speaking, and I can't find it anywhere, but I think I read it like two, three weeks ago, that any, that if you go back, you know, they won like 40 games by, I think it was 15 points or more. Maybe it was double digits or more. It was some statistic where they crushed people this year. year on the regular. I mean, 60 wins, but so many of them, I think it was 40 of them were by double digits or more. And if you go back through the history of the game to find teams that were that dominant in the regular season in terms of just blowing people out, they basically won the title. You know, they would go on and it would prove out in the postseason. I didn't believe in them.

I've watched them enough. Now, I think Kyrie was a loser and he tapped out and that, you know, they had Janus actually uncomfortable in those. first two games. Like he actually looked off and looked tight and they couldn't take advantage of it. They took advantage of it in game one, couldn't take advantage of it in game two. And after that, once he got on a roll, it's tough. Plus, that's a good team around him. You know, Chris Middleton's damn good. Eric Bledsoe's good. Brogden back. They're good. I totally agree with you that this postseason has become so much more intriguing without Durant playing for Golden State. if they get to the finals without Durant, that'll be very interesting.

Scott, I think they could be an underdog potentially if they get to the finals without Durant. I think it's a Pickham series somewhere around there, which would be incredible with Milwaukee being there for the first time and Golden State being a four-time interchampion. If you think some of these NBA reporters that are so uncomfortable with the idea of Zion Williamson playing in a market like New Orleans, imagine how uncomfortable they're going to be if Milwaukee becomes the toast of the NBA. I mean, I've never been part of it watching a league where people are so concerned about where somebody plays and what city and marketability and all this crap in 2019,

where it doesn't really seem to matter. I thought like the NFL debunked this years ago with a Packers and the Colts that, you know, if you have stars, it doesn't matter. People will still show up and care, you know, and you'll get ratings. Well, I thought the end, I thought. I thought it had been debunked in the NBA with LeBron and Cleveland and Durant, Westbrook and Hardin in Oklahoma. city. I mean, give me a break. I thought so too.

Golden State, by the way, was one of the most irrelevant franchises in the league until the Splash Brothers showed up. I mean, let's be honest. Nobody cared about that. I mean, they were joking their own city. In their own city, they weren't kids people to go to the game. Now they're like, you know, the toast of the league. There were young people that just figured based on their name, they actually played in L.A. Like they were the third team in L.A., not in Northern California. I'm serious. I remember a conversation with one of my kids' friends a few years ago when Golden State got really good, and he was convinced they played in L.A. I said, no, they actually play in the Bay Area.

But anyway, so we both like Golden State to get through. I think Portland does have a chance to play well at home and win a couple of games. And even though I'd love to see Toronto do it, I had Milwaukee in five before, and it may be, you know, it may be quicker work than that, because the opportunity that Toronto had may have been in game one. similar to sort of the early series opportunity that maybe Boston had. No doubt. And it was surprising to me is the way that Brooke Lopez showed up the other night. I mean, I don't think you're going to see that again tonight.

But he can shoot it. He's always had a good shot. Yeah, but like that kind of shooting was incredible. That was this gravy for them. And, you know, all of a sudden, what's weird about Toronto is, remember a few seasons ago, this was such a deep team. That's all we ever talked about, depth, depth, depth. Now we're like, well, where's the depth coming from?

Like, you know, who's going to come in and give them some quality minutes off the bench? And suddenly that's a real mystery for Nick Nurse in the Raptors. Yes. All right. What else do I have for you? See the Landon Collins quote from the other day about winning Super Bowls? Yeah. Yeah.

And now Josh Norman's making jokes about Gettlement working for the Redskins or helping the Redskins or something. What? I missed that. What did Norman say? Yeah, that's a new one. That's a new one today. pro football talk making jokes about you know he hates gettelman obviously he's gottelman ran him out of carolina right so he was just making some comments about how

getleman's helping them by running the giants you know of course they have i think we need to put him on salary norman said there you go there you go well you know what i mean i'm sure i'm sure everything they're they're talking about will play out once the regular season starts as our good friend richard walker once said nobody does monday three Saturday better than the Redskins. It's just Sundays that seem to be the problem. Yeah, I'll tell you what, you know, look, I'm like everybody else. I'm hopeful

and I like the draft, but I got to see it in practice. There's just, you know, hey, there's just forces, as you know, sometimes it just seem to work against that, but we'll find out. We got to wait, though. I'm not, I'm really, I don't know about you, I get worn down every day, seeing the tweets about how great the season's going to be,

and they haven't even had a training camp. It's unbelievable what they do. this time of year. Here's the quote from Norman. You read it, but there's more. He said, if we have an alliance with that guy, I think we need to put him on salary. They need to protect Dave Gettleman at all costs up in New York for sure. Protect that man at all costs because he's winning for us, closed quote. God, I mean, we're going to own the Giants for the next few years. This is going to be awesome. I mean, remember how great that Greg Norman, you know, Odell Beckham Jr., you know, rivalry turned out for the two best teams in the NFC East.

How about those, you know, magical matchups between the two when the Giants and the Redskins were playing for all those playoff stakes games? God, that was awesome to watch the last few years. It's incredible. All right, I'll talk to you soon. Thanks. All right, buddy. Take care. Thanks. Quick word about 3-2-1. All right, thanks to Scott Jackson, who actually the one thing we didn't talk. about at length is Zion and all the discussion about Zion Williamson and him potentially

going back to Duke. I think we talked about it a little bit yesterday with Tommy and you had mentioned, I guess, earlier, you know, before we got started, that there's some Richard Jefferson meme going around where he's just basically mocking Brian Windhorst and others that had a thought for a moment that Zion might be heading back to Duke. Yeah, I mean, it's while Winters, I guess they're on the same set and Windhorst is talking and Jefferson just looks right at the camera and shakes his head. Good for him. I mean, he's going to, by the way, what's so bad about New Orleans? I don't get, I'd love to go to.

Let's move the show to New Orleans. Yeah, I mean, when did New Orleans become like this town that nobody wants to go to? It's a phenomenal place. I get it's not one of the top markets. If he goes back into the draft, which again, he'd never do, but let's pretend he would, there's about a 50-50 chance he'd go to. a worse market than New Orleans. No doubt. That's a really good point. Like he could end up in, you know, God forbid, you know, a place like Orlando. Minnesota. Well, actually, you know, Minneapolis isn't a terrible place, but Sacramento. Like what if he ended up in, I mean,

could have ended up in Memphis. He's in New Orleans. You know what? He just strikes me as a guy, and I know that people were hung up on sort of the facial expressions and the reaction when it became New Orleans. I just have this belief. He's going to New Orleans. I just have this belief. He's going to Orleans and he's going to try to kick ass because he just, he's the guy that when everybody was talking about, oh, you can't come back and play, you know, when he got injured. He couldn't wait to get back and play. There's something about him that I think reeks of quality person, like inside. I don't, that's the way I think. Could he pull an Eli Manning? He could. I guess he could do that, but I don't think he will. That's my prediction. Jay Williams this morning was talking about him

going to Europe potentially and making even more money in Europe and getting a cut of the revenue with a team like Real Madrid or some other Barcelona or one of those Euro teams. I don't see it. I see him in New Orleans next year playing. And I have no idea what to think of Anthony Davis. I'll just still stick with what I said two days ago, which is if he really wants out, I don't know that the drafting of Zion Williamson is going to change his mind. I think he wants to go somewhere bigger and better. I think Zion will be in New Orleans next year. A quick word about launch workplaces. If you're looking for new office space or you're working from home and you need a small office or a desk a couple of days a week, consider launch workplaces in Bethesda.

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We'll get to the Game of Thrones finale preview in a moment. But I did want to just mention one NFL, you know, transactional thing that I read about earlier this morning. And that is what the Ravens have done here over the last 24 hours. First of all, they signed the speed pass rusher that I thought the Redskins could get for next to nothing. And I think the Ravens got him for next to nothing. And I know he's coming off injuries, but they signed Shane Ray. He was a guy that I wanted the Redskins to think about in free agency, because he is a true speed guy.

He's had injuries, wrist injuries, other kinds of injuries. And, you know, there's been a few character red flags, I think, but he's a talent. The Raven signed him. They also signed Michael Floyd. They also brought back Pernell McPhee. So they signed two Redskins from last year, Pernell McPhee and Michael Floyd,

and the guy that I wanted the Redskinell. Redskins to sign during the offseason in Shane Ray. So just a couple of transactions there. But Michael Floyd, I mean, man, people keep giving him a shot. You know, they love his talent. They love his size. They love his talent. And people are going to keep giving him a shot.

He had 10 catches last year for the skins with a few drops, if you recall. But he is a raven. And on Shane Ray, you know, Ray said, I've got a lot of a football left in me and some of the best football is still in front of me. He is an exceptional talent. If he puts it together, he was a first round pick in 2015 in Denver. That's the kind of guy that I'd roll the dice on for next to nothing in terms of money. All right, Sunday night. Sunday night, here it is. First of all, the story now continues to grow. It's closing in on a million people who have signed a petition

that has a very from fans of the show that want an entire last season redone. They want a new last season redone. I mean, this is ridiculous. This is it. You don't always love it, and it's a very subjective thing. There are people that have enjoyed it. I've enjoyed the final season. As I've said, I've got a lot of nits.

to pick. But I predicted that it was going to feel rushed and there were going to be some things that we didn't like. I don't know why from the jump this wasn't going to be a 10 episode final season, why they've tried to rush it into six. The weird thing coming out from there is that according to some people, HBO did say, hey, you can have some more episodes. So why didn't they? The showrunners didn't want it. They said they didn't need it, which is a big problem, if true, because they very clearly did need it. Whatever, you know, even if you like it, I think most people will agree that it could have used another episode or two. Look, the complaints from my standpoint are, first and foremost, the battle with the White Walkers,

the Battle of the North, the Battle of Winterfeld, however you want to describe it, I don't even know what the name of that episode was. The Long Night was the name of the episode. It was too dark. It was just too effing dark. That was a problem. I clearly was not the only person to complain about it. It was a massive complaint about that episode. How did they let that happen? I know that a lot of it perhaps was intentional to create this feeling of total chaos, but it really was difficult to watch that episode, a lot of it. That's my number one complaint about this particular season. The second thing is, I just think they missed,

they left some stuff up to the imagination that in the past with more time we would have seen play out, like what we talked about. actually having that conversation and seeing the reaction of his two sisters when he told them that he actually wasn't their bastard brother, that he was actually their blood cousin, their blood first cousin. We never got any follow-up to that. I've mentioned to you that I do not understand the aria storyline right now. I mean, after she kills the Night King, since she killed the Night King,

first of all, she's not even at that big celebration dinner, and she gets barely a toast from Dineris about Aria Stark taking down the Night King, and she's the hero. And then she leaves Winterfell without telling anybody, shows up in King's Landing without telling anybody, and is in the midst of all of the fire and carnage with the hound, and her brother, who it's not her brother, it's her cousin, is, and by the way,

DeNaris, who has already, you know, has made the only statement about Aria taking out the Night King is torching a city and she's in the middle of it barely surviving. That didn't make a lot of sense to me. And I would agree that Searcy and Jamie's death

was less than satisfying. Circe's death in particular, was less than satisfying. Other than that, I think there have been some really incredible moments. I liked both of the first two episodes. episodes. I thought, you know, there wasn't a lot of, you know, there wasn't a lot of blood, wasn't a lot of gore, but I liked both of those first two episodes. And I think we saw two of the

most emotional moments of this final season last week, Tyrion and Jamie's farewell, and then, you know, Aria and the Hounds, you know, goodbye. I loved both of those moments. Overall, I would give it like a B minus the final season. I'm not going to give it an A, but I'm not signing. any petition saying give me a whole new final season. You feel differently, though. I'm, I'm, no, I don't feel overly differently. I am a little more disappointed than you were. I do feel it was a lot more, I feel like it was very rushed. I feel like, you know, for a final season for, as you said, you know, something that's at least in the conversation or was in the conversation for the greatest TV show of all time, like this is a stumbling at the finish line

a little bit. And it's very disappointing. I think the petition's kind of ridiculous, but you know what? We got a million people saying that they should replay the NFC championship game because the refs got that wrong too. So you know what? I get it from the kind of anger perspective. And by the way, for those who the book readers are like, oh, well, we just got to wait for George R. Martin to get it right. I don't know if he gets it right either because he's messed up a lot of things along the way that the show writer is actually fixed in the show. So for that stand. point, I don't trust George R. Martin to get it right. Anyways, and that's assuming he actually finishes the books at all.

Boy, I feel, I can only imagine the anxiety that Dan, what are their names, again, the two producers? Ben Off and Weiss. Yeah, how they will watch this final episode. Oh, they said before the season even started, which people are now going back and quoted, for the last few episodes, we're getting far away from the internet and drinking a lot. How long is this final episode? 80 minutes again.

80 minutes. All right, you want to make a couple of predictions? Why don't we go? I think one of the things that we should do is let's go down the list of main characters and just say dead or alive at the end of this episode. Okay. All right? Let's start with Dineris.

Dead or alive at the end of the end of it. I agree. Very dead. Who kills her? I'm going to go John. Yeah. He's done nothing this entire final season. Most of the main characters have to...

Did you realize Searcy did nothing but, like, stand at the window? There was barely even any dialogue with Searcy this entire final season. I mean, other than the dialogue with Yaron and the dialogue at the end with Jamie and a couple of conversations with Khyburn, that's been it. Beyond the frustration of her death,

the fact that she was just so, you know, used as sparingly this season might be the biggest crime. What about Drogon? If you think Dinerist, dies, then Drogon dies too. I mean, there are ways you can write it out where he doesn't die. I will say... Then who does he represent moving forward?

He doesn't have to... I mean, don't forget, earlier in the show, he did fly away from Dideras. Yeah, true. So there's a situation you could write in where he does, you know, fly back across the sea or whatever. I will say probably dead, but I'm not as confident as Dineris. I will go with probably the favorite to kill Dineris, which is Aria. I would think she's the favorite to kill Dineris at this point. Don't you think so?

I remember John. Or Tyrion. I can't see Tyrion killed. Unless it's... He's killed before. Yeah. Nah. All right.

So we both think she's dead. What about John? I'm going to say yes. I'm going to say yes. I'm going to say that if he's not on the throne, and I think at this point, it would almost feel weird if he ends up on the throne after all this, that he has to be. to die.

Unless he takes the black again. Part of me just thinks that John is not going to end up on the throne unless the throne is moved. I mean, potentially, could they move the throne to Winterfell? They could. I mean, they could do whatever. They don't have to have someone sit on the throne

hypothetically. Well, what are the odds of that? You're checking out all the Vegas odds. I stopped looking at the odds because too many leaks and spoilers. Is one of the prop bets? Nobody sits on the throne at the end of the thing? I'm sure there's a feel. Yes.

that's part of the bed. I haven't looked because there's too many leaks and stuff out there, so I didn't want to see it. I think if you are right that John is the one that kills DeNaris, I think John dies in the process. Yes, agreed. Well, you just said that you think he's going to live, but that he's going to kill DeNaris. Oh, did I say he's going to live? No, I think that I said, John's going to die or live? I said if he's not on the throne, which I'm thinking less and less of, that he has to die. I think John dies. I think John dies in some sort of confrontation with Danny and Drogon. And all three of them end up done.

Tyrion. Lives. I think so too. I think Tyrion ends up alive. And I actually think he ends up being the hand of the queen. So you have Sansa. I have Sansa. That would be more satisfying than my concern.

What's your concern? Brand. I know me too. I'm really concerned about that. It would make no sense in the story. It makes absolutely no... He doesn't care about people. It doesn't...

He doesn't care about being on the throne. He doesn't consider himself a person. Not just... He doesn't care about being on the throne. He says he doesn't want. He doesn't want, and he doesn't care about the betterment of people. He cared about not, you know, humanity not dying to the White Walkers. Right.

But he doesn't care about people. Like he'd be awful on the throne, and it makes no sense, and I'm really worried they're going to do it. Sonsa's the only one that spent of the Starks that spent significant time down south. Yes. And she knows the south. Now, I don't know what's left. What we saw is a nuked out Kings Landing, so I don't even know what that means. Kingslanding is not a thing anymore.

But I think Tyrion's lives. I think Sonsa lives. I think Sonsa ends up being the queen and sitting on the throne. Aria, I believe, lives. Yes. I will say if she is the one, if Drogon dies, she's the one who kills Drogon, I could see a situation where they go out together. But I would say, I would say the favorite is her living. So who are we missing now?

Greyworm's dead. Who kills Gray. Well, Greyworm dies in the midst of protecting Danny. Yes, 100%. Um, what about, I mean, Brienne's going to be involved in something in this final episode, because you know that Sansa is going to be a big part of this final episode. So, Brienne, dead or alive? I'll say alive.

I'll say alive too. Like I, I, and this would be satisfying for me, actually, if it ends up being the Stark's sort of went out here with Tyrion. Look, some people think Tyrion may marry Sansa. I don't. But I think I could definitely. see Tyrion end up being the hand of the queen. Right. The second time being the hand of the queen. Right. Um, what about... Third time, wasn't he the hand of the king for... Yeah, he was. Yeah. With,

Joffrey. What about Davos? Davos is the one I'm trying to figure out right now, because I feel like he's survived long enough that something's coming to him, whether it's a big moment, whether he kills Grey War or whether he ends up getting like a big position. Something's coming to him. I can't quite figure out. I could see him, you know, dying in a blaze of glory, but that doesn't seem his style. He's not a big fighter. He's the smuggler.

So I'm going to say he lives and something big happens. Do we see Tormond in the Wildings make any sort of reappearance in this final episode? No. I wish because I want more torquence. What about Braun? What the hell happens with him? Now that Searcy's gone and Jamie's gone, he's got Tyrion left. Tyrion promised High Garden.

Does he get High Garden after all this is said and done? From Tyrion and Sonson. I think Braun's gone. I think the reason that scene seems so rushed and so weird was because they realized they didn't have time for him in either of the next two episodes. So that was kind of his right off. What about Sam? I don't think he should be. Actually, you know what?

If you want to do... He's heading back to the Citadel with Gilly. I mean, yeah. I think that was the right off. He may not even be in this final episode. Right. That was the right off for Tormond for Sam for, yes. I think that's right. Yes. And ghost too. Yes. Gendry. He's the interest. He's the wild card in all this. He's off to the Stormlands. To be the Lord of Storm's End. We don't know that. We don't. No. We know he was named the Lord of Storm's End. But I think he was maybe in that caravan going south. I don't know. We don't know exactly where he is. And if you want a true wild card who sits on the throne, there's your wild card right there. Because he's of Barathean blood. Yes. You don't want Targary.

You know, you want nothing to do with the Targaryans after this. You, you know, yeah, Robert wasn't the best, but at least he was on the throne. You have, you know, a Stark sitting on the throne, there would be no precedent for. And, you know, the world of, you know, the world of Game of Thrones likes their precedent. there's the present for Baratian on the throne so there's your wild card right there a lot to consider the final episode

have we forgotten anybody I mean I've read different theories people think that the Night King is somehow going to be resurrected I don't see that happening Some people are talking about you know Bran is the Night King some You know weird things

I hope it doesn't get weird in that way Here's the weird you've set up You very clearly set up the brand can Ward brand can go back in time for a reason. Like, you did the whole thing with Hodor for a reason. We haven't seen that paid off yet. Are we going to see something this episode with Bran? And is that the reason he ends up on? Like, is he going to war going to drogan? Is he going to do something? Are we going to, is it going to turn out that he's the reason why DeNaris went crazy because he got into her head

or something? He was looking at the Mad King and then looking at into DeNaris at the same time. Like, they've had this big Chekhov's gun here with Brand. And they haven't pulled that trigger yet. So just a couple more thoughts. Number one, you know, brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Obviously for Aria, that would mean Dineris. Yes.

Because that's what's left there. I'm also looking forward to seeing what the hell happens with Tyrion for freeing Jamie. If there's a consequence to pay for Tyrion. I think Tyrion lives. I've said that, but I'm wondering if there is a consequence. I think there's going

she's going to want a consequence, but she's never going to get at. Tiri is not going back to her. Which again is another reason why, you know, rushing this, we're missing out on some of that stuff. We, it's still, there's going to be a, I don't know if it'll play out this way, but Sonsa could certainly spend the first 15 minutes of Sunday night with, I told you so, to everybody, to Tyrion, to John, to everybody. I'd like some of those conversations. She's the one that's had it right from the jump, going back to season seven.

Will Aria's face-changing ability play any role in this final episode? I personally hope not. Yeah. I just want it to be Aria. I want her to kill Dineris if that's what's going to happen. And I personally think it would be satisfying to see the Stark survive and, you know, be on the throne and move forward. forward from there. There's no forward, but if there's any sort of spin-off stuff. The one big question I have coming off the last episode, you know, you had various sending out

the letters. Will that come into play? And who shows up if so? Well, you know, who would show up? Like, who did he send those to? That's the question. You know, we still, and I've brought this up many times, I'm actually surprised if Yara's arc ended with her saying goodbye to Theon and saying, you go to, you know, you go to, you go. You know, you go to Winterfell and help the Starks and I'm going to go back to the Iron Islands because Uron's gone and I can take back the Iron Islands. That's our home. But Yara has no reason to turn against.

You're right. You're right. I thought Yara would play a role in Uron's death. That's where I thought that she would be back in play. What else? I mean, what else could get in the, I mean, what about Dorn? What about the Prince of Dorn? What's going on there?

That's the question. Was that just a throw? row away line to say, yeah, those kingdoms being rebuilt, that the Prince of Dorn is something? Or is that potentially, are we actually going to get something out of Dorn finally? And are we absolutely sure that the hound's dead,

Circe's dead, and Jamie's dead? Here's the interesting thing. For major characters, we've pretty much seen everybody's death. Like, with the exception of Stannis, who they cut to pre-end for, or they cut away from it, we've seen the death.

And we very clearly didn't see the for some of those characters. I'm going to say yes because that would be really awful if they decided, nah, they're not actually dead, but they've left it open. The quote from Weiss, I think it was, a good story isn't a good story if you have a bad ending. We worry. We're going to find out, but it's very subjective these things.

I'll tell you what. If Bran ends up sitting on the throne, I'm going to come. in here all fire and blood on Monday. Yeah, me too. Me too. He's gotten annoying over the last, over this season and in the end of the season before. But he did serve a purpose. He served us, I guess. I mean, I guess Sam could have broken the news.

He learned it, you know, at the Citadel. But the two of them, you know, figured it out. And I think that convinced John. That's the most frustrating thing. And why it's the most frustrating thing overall for me this season is you had so many of these long arcs that seemed to be building for something that ended up being built for nothing. Yeah. You have Brand, you have Jamie, you have, I mean, even Circe.

Like, she went out with such a whimper that it almost feels like, like, what was the point of all this? And that's the frustrating thing. I get that. I totally, I get the Searcy death. And really, Searcy's role in this entire final season was really insignificant. Not a lot of lines. For somebody to have been so significant to this story for so long. And by the way, to be a compelling and intriguing, you know, evil, you know, queen.

For to end, I mean, we had five episodes and I would, I haven't counted up her lines, but she was insignificant. I bet you she had less than 15 minutes of screen time. It wasn't a lot. It wasn't a lot. All right. So we'll be back. Monday to talk about it. Have a great weekend, everybody.