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Find out how to bring your ideas to life at dell.com. Welcome to Now. All that matters now is what happens next. The Stanley Cup playoffs.
Eastern Conference Final begins Wednesday. The Rich Eisen Show, today's guests, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, plus overreaction Monday, latest news and more. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Suzy Schuster. Hey, everybody, Suzy Schuster, thrilled to be back with you here on The Rich Eisen Show. Good morning. Hey, what's up?
Take a round of applause for one person in the studio. That was awfully nice of you, Christopher. The one on the least amount of sleep, and I'm excited to be here with you guys.
Christopher Brodman, good to see you. Fresh off a couple days off. It was fun sitting in your chair for a couple days. Yeah, how much criticizing did you do of my workspace?
Because that seems to be a theme when you're here. I have to tell you, it was clean. It was spectacular. I helped myself to the granola during a commercial break. I have a big baggie of change over here.
I missed that one. Jay Felley, good morning to you, sir. How are you?
Good morning. Always happy to see you over there. Always happy to see you, too. TJ Jefferson, our color commentator. How are you, sir? Yeah, just over here to provide color commentary. How are you? I'm great. Chris, while you were gone, we came up with new titles for the show.
Hold on, is it because you're a person of color and you comment on things? Any way you want to look at it, really. It's up to you. You missed it on Friday.
We came up with all sorts of new titles. You, of course, being the sports host with your smug shot that we saw for your... Am I mugging in that thing? Do I need to get an official head shot? Look at that. It's smug.
It's like us shooting photos on our iPhone one day, right? We called it the smug shot. Okay, that was kind of official.
That was an official photo shoot, baby. So now that you're the sports host and co-host and senior producer, I said TJ needed a new beefier title. We came up with color commentator, which I think is fantastic. I love that, actually.
Because it's a double entendre, you see. And mine is just here, here in the chair, here with you on the Roku channel, here with you wherever you are taking in this Rich Eisen show on the radio network. And we are thrilled to be with you.
844-204, which is the number to call if you're watching on the Roku. Hi, guys. Hi, Roku. How are you? Good to see you all.
Como estas? And all of you know, when I'm sitting in the chair, I really care about calls. Now, I know that it's all about win-loss. Because on Thursday and Friday, the numbers are crazy. The amount of people calling in and staying the whole time. Schedules out. I actually picked up the phone to say to people, please call in tomorrow. Because it hurts my feelings when we don't empty the call bank. It hurts my feelings.
Well, you take up for Del Tufo. You want to – did you get a third dog yet at your house? You want five dogs at your house. I found two. She almost had four.
There was almost two new dogs. And she feels bad when we don't get to the callers. Yeah, because you guys are a bunch of heathens. So my point of saying this is – my point of saying this is win-loss, two of them. Win-loss, the schedule is out. It's a hot mess Monday. Call in. And it's hot mess Monday.
Why? We haven't even talked about the Timberwolves yet. We're going to get there. I'm letting you know.
I'm setting the table for you in advance. It's hot mess Monday. Shaq's supposed to be on.
He might be flying now. Lisa Salters, my close personal friend who I love desperately is at Celtics practice. I don't think she can get back on time. In other words, bear with me.
In other words, typical day of the mall. I'm like, it's just going to be a hot mess day. We might have people. We may not.
Don't worry about it. We're going to talk a lot about what happened, especially in the association. Because let's just face it, it was so much fun to watch basketball last night. I know this is typically a very heavy football show.
But the first ever day with multiple game sevens won by road teams. And I have to tell you, we will talk about the Pacers in a minute. But we should start with the T-Wolves. Because who's more fun to watch right now than Anthony Edwards and Co.
Call Anthony Towne. And I just thought watching this game, TJ, and I turn to you because Chris is still half asleep at the other desk. I was sort of watching on the airplane.
What were you watching? Because I had to tell the kids to get out. I said, guys, get out. Get out. Go play wiffle ball.
Mom's going to watch the, mom's going to watch some hoops. And it was just, I'm going to read some stuff for you because I took crazy notes the whole time. Because it's, and I actually was, as I'm sitting there trying to think of like, what's the most important stat of this game?
What is it that sticks out the most? And I think that my overall thought was, you talk about total team effort, which is such a cliché, right? It really was. Call Anthony Towne shows why he is their MVP over and over and over again. And Anthony Edwards watching this 22-year-old, just the poise. It wasn't even him making the buckets. It was him doing everything else there was to do to make this a total team effort. And I thought watching them last night was just spectacular.
Yeah, especially, you know, being down so big at halftime, you're kind of thinking, all right, man, is this game over? But this guy on your screen right now, number five in the T-Wolves jersey, this kid is special. He truly, truly is special. Now, look, if you just looked at the stat line, he was six of 24 for 16 points.
But it's truly a case where the stats don't tell the full story about the energy. Just like, you know, I've said this word before and I think I'm okay to say it. The testicular fortitude that this guy brings to this team. Like this guy believes he can do anything. Like he believes he can do anything on the basketball court, on a football field, on a baseball diamond, on a hockey rink.
Like, so when you have a kid like this who's leading you and inspiring you. Yeah, all these other guys are going to step their game up. And they did. Jaden McDaniel's with quite possibly the quietest but biggest 23 points I've ever seen in a basketball game. You know, Rudy getting just his lunch handed to him by Joker in the first half. And then coming through like in the second half to kind of help slow down that juggernaut. And then, you know, like you said, Karl-Anthony Towns shooting threes.
They only had one. But, you know, just making his presence felt. This T-Wolves team is fun, Chris. And I don't think any of us saw this at the beginning. I know none of us saw this. The thing is, how could you?
How could you have seen this? Because all season it was Denver. They're the team to beat. They're the best team in the NFL. The best team in the NBA. I don't care how good the Celtics are doing over there in the East. But the East is not competitive. It's super top heavy. The West is so deep. OKC. Wow, look at that.
That's a really fun story. Man, SGA, he's awesome. Kopers probably shouldn't have traded him, but it's Jokic's world and we're just living in it. And now this team, I don't want to say they come out of nowhere because you could kind of see this at the end of last year. Oh, wow.
Are they going to be a year or two early? And yeah, Anthony Edwards is that dude. And he did go six for 24.
You mentioned it. That's kind of a famous stat line. Kobe went six for twenty four in game seven of the NBA Finals, famously against the Celtics. But they won that game because Palgasol was a beast on the boards and Kobe was kind of doing everything else. And Metta stepped up. And this team, eerily, similar to that kind of yesterday. Look, Ant had four points in the first half.
Our boy Dave McMenamin had a stat yesterday. The Wolves are eight and one when Anthony Edwards scores under five points in the first half this year. How is that possible? That doesn't make any sense.
That doesn't make any sense in the world. But here they are heading into the Western Conference Finals. And I'm pretty jacked up for this matchup. Yeah, this is going to be fun. Two really fun teams.
We finally get to see Luka on this giant playoff stage, loaded with superstars, this matchup is. And I don't know, is... I don't know who's going to win this. I don't know who's going to win. And I know that, I'm just going to assume that Boston is going to win.
But I don't know. I kind of think they really need Porzingis back. But we'll talk about what the Pacers did in a second. The West is exciting. It was fun. We thought it was going to be this crazy knock-em-out tournament over there. And it is. And it has been. And now we get these two teams who are really deserving because they're playing really good basketball.
Anthony Edwards did say after the game, when asked who to get the game ball, he said Jayden McDaniels would get it. And, you know, I was looking at some things and I was thinking also, when's the last time we saw the T-Wolves? It was Wally Zurbiak, right?
It was like, some of these guys, KG, right? First team in league history to lead by 15 or more at the half and lose, that's the Nuggets, of course. Fifth consecutive defending champions to fail to reach the conference finals. And that is just, that's cold, okay? That's a crazy stat.
That's a great stat, if I have to say so myself. And then what I was thinking was, you said Dave McMenamin. He had a great article in which he talked about Anthony Edwards and crew after flying out, they were actually headed to the airport. Their charter, hold on, they weren't headed to the airport.
They're going home to the airport hotel, sorry, because their charter was leaving the next morning. And they went to some random bar to go drown their sorrows. And who walks in but Jamal Murray?
Like, a random bar. And Anthony Edwards, I think, felt, what's the word, underappreciated, dissed, what have you. And he said, we're coming for you next year. And Jamal Murray laughed.
He's not laughing now, is he? Incredible. Nas Reed, great on both edges of the floor.
He was fantastic. Streaking. And, you know, there was another stat that, I think it was in the second half, that Jamal Murray and Jokic combined for 68 and the rest of the team had 21. Is that what it was for the game? There was something like, you can't play on two guys. You could, like 10 years ago, 15 years ago, there were some Laker runs that was basically Shaq, Kobe, and a couple Robert Horry 3s from the corner. But total team effort last night, that was the Wolves. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it was the Wolves. You want to talk about the Nuggets for a second?
We might have something about this in overreaction Monday. So? But, you got to think about what they do now. You know, they're not this world beater. They're not just running right to the finals like we kind of thought they were going to do all year and after the championship last year.
Do they need to go out and add to this? Is Michael Porter Jr. enough as the third guy? What does their bench look like? They really missed having Bruce Brown, it looked like, during this playoff run.
How important he was last year. What do they do now? Who wants to go play with Jokic that's a free agent? Who do they go out and get? It's going to be really interesting, their offseason coming up.
I'm really curious what's going to happen with them. Yeah, Jokic finishing with 34 points, 19 board shots, 13 for 28 from the field, 2 for 10 on 3 pointers, Murray scoring, 35 on 13 for 27, shooting with 3 assists and 4 turnovers. I'll tell you who was not happy after the game.
It was Michael Malone. Let's hear from him. Did you feel like there was anything that you guys got away from offensively in that stretch after you reached that point?
I'll have to go back and watch the film. How hard is it just to absorb a loss like this after going ahead by 20? Next question, man. The season's over. That's what's hard. Being up 20. The season's over.
You don't understand that. The season's over. It's hard. Stupid ass questions.
Oh, boy. It's really fun sitting there in that conference room when you're asking those questions and you're sitting there thinking, God, I hope he doesn't kick me. It wasn't.
It was all sweet last year when you win and you're all happy. But look, that was a legitimate question if you ask me. You've got to face the music, right? You know, that's part of the deal.
And, you know, that's disappointing and heartbreaking and kind of shell shocking, to be honest, because it wasn't just there wasn't one big, huge moment that happened. I hit the three to make it. Was it 67, 66 at one point? But they're up 20. And then it's like, oh, OK. They cut it to 13.
That's interesting. They cut it to 13. So quick. And then, oh, it's down to nine.
Whoa, it's five. And you're just kind of like, what happened? It was it was just kind of a slow, dull death for for Denver yesterday. It wasn't it wasn't a crazy thing. There wasn't like a highlight, you know, posterizing jam. There wasn't a four point play. There wasn't anything like that. It was just, oh, wow.
Oh, we got a game now. No, it wasn't like Reggie Miller, you know. Yeah, it wasn't eight points in eight seconds or that later. But it was it was it was a it was like a dull death. It was a Game of Thrones red wedding style. It was it was just kind of, oh, oh, this is happening. Yeah, they're going to blow it. And is is taking it from you.
And I don't know if you're going to get it back. I don't know that the red wedding was a dull death, though. That was pretty vicious and violent. Like I mean, it was just like a slow burn, like a like Aria Stark, like with the masks setting up Walder Frey. You know, it just kind of happened.
And you're like, oh, that happened. Oh, they're oh, they're moving on. The champs are going home.
Maybe Malone should talk to the people in Atlanta about how they felt watching the Patriots come back. Right. They were up kind of.
Yeah, right. What I found interesting, there were 30 seconds left in the game. I think the tables were up five. KCP takes a three. He misses it.
He will get the rebound. Now, it's still a seven point game. Like you found them. They missed some shots. You come down, hit a three. Maybe you just the game still technically not over.
And I see, you know, Joker like takes his mouthpiece out and sticks it in a sock. And it seemed like the entire Nuggets team at that point just kind of gave up. And that was a little shocking to me. There's still 30 seconds left.
I mean, congratulating them on the win with 30 seconds to go. And it was very European. And then it got kind of got into it a little bit. I guess Joker was mad that Ant was waving at the crowd. There was a attempt at a, you know, a bounce pass dunk.
And so they kind of got chirpy at the end. But Ant did do the across the chest. He did do the T wolves thing, right?
He didn't. You know, this is I mean, it's doing it on the road. You can't be butthurt about that when you lose a home game. Game seven. Like when you're up that they get to celebrate and they earn that too.
And you are the ant cares. The future face of the NBA. Here's Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns, the comedic stylings of the two of them after the game. And usually in NBA history says you have to lose and lose big before you win. What is it about this team that says we lost last year?
Yeah, but that's different. You have to lose at a bigger stage. Usually teams use the playoffs. We lost last year. We lost the last two years. How much more we got to lose?
How much you want us to lose it for 20 years? I mean, that's just the truth. Look, Ant Edwards, man, is great.
He's awesome. But whoever's asking that question, usually the big losses come in the conference finals or in the NBA finals. It doesn't come in the first or second round. Like Jordan had to get beat up by the Pistons to get over that hump and stuff.
I think that's usually the thing. And so, you know, I know Ant and Kat are kind of like, come on, man, we've been losing forever. But not in a big grand scale with actual championship stakes. But look, if you're in the playoffs, there's championship stakes. So he had a point.
Sure, but the last two years, no one thought the Wolves were serious contenders. True. But they came on fast. They came on fast. And that's how it happens.
And this guy is 22. I got to say, I'm really happy for Kat. I've been part of the slanderous, you know, talking some smack about him. Because you had high expectations. And I don't it's so rare, but I don't love his game and I don't love him as a player. But I'm really happy for him to move on and to have this big moment.
He played great yesterday when his team needed him because their superstar. It's supposed to be Kat's team. It was supposed to be.
He was supposed to be the guy to lead this team. But now it's Ant's team. It's clearly Ant's team. And Kat seems OK with that, by the way.
He's accepted it. And that was great. And then when your star is having a bad day, the other guys have to pick him up who are on that level. And Kat was on that level yesterday.
I'm super happy for him. And I can't wait to watch. Yeah, great discussion on TNT last night with Vince Carter and Charles Barkley about the trust that happens with a team like that. And when when your lead player, when your star player isn't just isn't making it rain and just the idea of who's going to step up, who's going to play the supporting role.
And it's really about we talk about this all the time. I mean, you talk about it in youth sports when kids, all they think they want to do is score buckets. So what are you doing? What are the assists that you're creating? Where are the boards that you're getting? The hustle players. Where are you on the offensive rebounds, not just the defensive rebounds? The stuff that doesn't show up in the stat sheet.
Yeah. I mean, Carl Anthony Towns last night, 23 points, 12 boards, two steals. I mean, that to me, like when you look for steals, right, you're creating momentum, you're creating the change in the game there. And the fact of the matter is, he played great defense on Jokic.
And when you say, oh, well, Jokic, the three time MVP, you know, he still scored, what did he score, like thirty four, thirty four, thirty five. I mean, still a lot. But by the way, that's a lot on him.
That is a lot. And Carl Anthony Towns was present. Nas Reed was present.
Rudy Gobert. It was funny. Charles Barkley suggested that they bench him, that he sit. And he was asked about it after the game. And again, just classy. He's like, well, that seems silly.
I mean, I think I played pretty well. You know, that's the thing. Everyone wants to get on Rudy. He was the, you know, four time defensive player of the year. And thing is, though, Joker eats and I've used this term already, but he eats everyone's lunch.
So there's really no disrespect in just getting, you know, taken taken to the woodshed by Joker. But Rudy, what I'm most impressed with, guys, 63 percent foul shooter on the season hitting seven for nine. That's like some big foul shots in that jumper he made with the shot clock.
Yeah, I was expiring like even guys on his bench couldn't believe that was like, oh, whoa, oh, wow. Yeah, they all stood up. They all did what they had to do.
They earned it, man. Let's take a break. Vincent Goodwill, the NBA senior writer from Yahoo, will join us momentarily. It is hot mess Monday.
That just means Colin and guys win last game. Come on, let's hear it. Let's go. And let's just keep rolling. We still have a lot to talk about as we look ahead on today's edition of The Rich Eisen Show.
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Call clickrainder dot com or just stop by. Hot Mess Monday rolls on. Vincent Goodwill is here joining us on The Rich Eisen Show. We are grateful for his time.
NBA senior writer, also the host of The Good Word podcast on Yahoo Sports. You've had zero sleep. You're being so nice coming on off that red eye from Denver. What sticks out to you about this game more than anything?
When did you know this game was just off the rails? Right around the time of the third quarter. Thanks for actually having me.
I really do appreciate being on here. I think it was right around the time of the third quarter. And, you know, media members, we all sit on the same row. We're all sitting, talking and conversing with each other throughout the game. And at the 10 minute mark gives a 20 point game. We're like, man, it's going to be another blowout. It's going to be a game seven blow. We can start writing.
We can start finalizing our trips. And then you look up and it's a five point game. And you're like, and the arena goes quiet and you're looking around and there's this spot.
I'm not sure people could see it on the TNT broadcast, but there was a spot right above the Minnesota Timberwolves visiting bench. And it's just Timberwolves fans. And they are going crazy saying, let's go wolves. Now, granted, there's 20,000 people there and there's maybe, you know, 150 of those people over there. But they're making so much noise and you're like, oh, they haven't figured out yet that they're not supposed to be here.
They are not longer just playing with this sort of ignorance is bliss. Like with every minute they start to gain more confidence with every minute they start to realize, like something I think a lot of us realized a few a few days ago, Susie, they're the better team. And a lot of times you can be the better team and you don't realize it until two weeks after the playoff series is over.
And you're in Cancun or Bora Bora or something like that. You're not just sitting with regret. You're sitting with, man, we were actually the better team. And that light went on for Minnesota when Denver couldn't blow them out.
And then the game just started to change right then and there. And it was really, really compelling to watch a crowd that was so amped and they wanted blood to a crowd that was sort of cowering in the corner a little bit towards the end of the game. So why were they the better team, though? Because everyone kind of figured that Denver would just keep rolling through this series. Well, I think one of the things that we underestimated about Denver because they had Nicole Jokic and Jamal Murray, those were the two big cogs last year that helped them win an NBA championship.
Denver wasn't as deep this season as they were last year. And you've got to have a lot of things working in your favor in terms of health, in terms of versatility and style of play. And I think that's the thing that Minnesota had working for them. They have the energy of a challenging team.
Denver last year had that energy, like it's something I heard all the time growing up from the champions of, you know, the 80s and 90s. They said, man, when you're chasing after the championship, you have so much more energy than everybody else. You're so much more hungry when you're defending it.
You've got to be a little smarter. You've got to play with a little more guile because other teams are hungrier than you. And not only did I see a Minnesota team that was hungrier, I saw a Minnesota team that had every answer to every question that Denver posed. Oh, you have Jokic. We got three bigs that can defend him and wear him out. Oh, you have Wings.
We have Anthony Edwards who looks and plays like a combination of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, and has an endless reservoir of energy to guard Jamal Murray. So it's almost like on a test. Denver always had all the answers to the test. And whenever they asked you an answer, a question, you didn't have the answer, except Minnesota actually did have the answers.
And once they realized that they were the better team, this series, that game started to take shape. Vince and Goodwill joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's it like watching Anthony Edwards in person out there?
Well, Susie, I'm from Detroit, so I never got a chance to really enjoy Michael Jordan because it is ingrained in my blood to hate that man. But now with Anthony Edwards, it's almost like I get a second chance at it. You know what I mean? Like as a journalist, you're going to be impartial.
You're not rooting for anything. But just as an athletic endeavor, as an athletic figure, he gets from one spot to the next so quick. That's just on the floor. And then the way he leaps, the way he shoots.
And then, Susie, there's this other element to it. You call it the it fact that you can call it what magnetism, whatever it is, he embraces being exactly who he is, not just on the floor, but off the floor. Like he can go viral without trying to. Like he exerts his leadership in a way that is endearing to his teammates and even endearing to us when we're asking him questions.
And he's so very confident. I think it's going to hit all of us later on, not just in the playoffs or the finals. It's going to hit us all during the Olympic Games because Kevin Durant's going to be there. Lebron's going to be there. Steph is going to be there. And all those guys are going to try to mark their territory as far as where they sit on the mountain of the NBA. And Anthony Edwards one day is going to walk in there and tell all those old guys to sit down and go stand behind him because the league that was once theirs is now his.
And I can't wait for that. Oh, I love that you said that it really I think that was spot on because I so remember covering Kobe and watching that happen and the resentment that some of the older guys had for him because Kobe walked in more with a chip on his shoulder. Whereas Anthony Edwards just seemed so joyous and I feel like what we're going to watch in Paris is we're going to just see these guys not only stand up and puff their chest but embrace them a little bit. And I think part of that is what we see in his relationship with Karl-Anthony Towns. Like the way those two are so symbiotic.
What did you see from the two of them on the floor last night and how his trust in his teammates ended up in them defeating the Denver Nuggets? You know, it's really funny because when we think of Kobe Bryant, we think of Michael Jordan in terms of their leadership. It's almost like you lead because you're afraid of them like they exert their will on you.
They're not very they're charismatic but in a much more hard driving way. He's almost like a quarterback in a way where he realizes these guys have to play for me. These guys are going to like me and I don't think it's like a subconscious decision where he's going across and saying those things. I just think that's a part of his makeup and I think he looked at Karl Townes and said there's a way that I can approach in dealing with them if I'm being my teammate.
This guy's been here six or seven years before me. I'm going to pump him up and say that he's the best offensive player on the team even if he isn't. I'm going to pump him up and say he's the best defender big man we have on our team even though Rudy Gobert standing next to him who's a four-time defensive player of the year. He knows what each player needs and pours life into him while also holding that guy accountable in public while not emasculating him. When you tell Karl Townes to stop fouling people laugh because it feels funny. It feels like it's coming from a place of warmth not from a place of being hard and cold. And I don't know if that's something that you learn at 22 years old.
I feel like that's something that you have inside of you. I think that's something that you learn through dealing with people and not just being an athlete and I feel like Anthony Edwards gets the people stuff right as well as any 22-year-old I've been around at this stage. Who was the player on the court last night that you couldn't take your eyes off of?
Let's just take Anthony Edwards aside. Was it Nas Reed? Who was that? Was it Jayden McDaniels? You know what it was?
Believe it or not. It was Rudy Gobert because Rudy Gobert is so maligned. He's one of those things where he can be underappreciated and fairly maligned at the same time. You know what I mean? Like he's a four-time defensive player of the year, but people look at him and say, well, you can't guard Nikola Jokic.
Can you find me someone on the planet who can? Because nobody can guard this guy, but that's the standard that we held Rudy Gobert to. And he had a forgettable first half. And that's one of those first halves where you go into the locker room and you're wondering, is Rudy still going to be there with you?
Rudy has gotten played off the floor during playoff games and then a deciding seventh game against a guy who has become your Crip tonight. He played strong on the boards. He played his game.
He didn't try to be something that he wasn't. All his other teammates lifted him up. And then when he got the ball with a 9-1-1 shot left with zero on the clock and he threw it up, you could just feel the air leave the arena. Because once shots like that happen, it's almost like even though there's five minutes left in this game and the game is still within reach, it feels like the game turned and everybody realized it was the Minnesota Timberwolves night. So I know that's not necessarily the answer, like Carl Thomas had an excellent game yesterday, but I felt like Rudy Gobert being in the eye of the storm, being a defensive player of the year who's not necessarily respected or liked and sometimes does things to lean into that. I felt like he was a compelling figure last night.
No, I love that answer. Are you kidding me? Let's flip the script on this and ask about Denver. At what point were you watching this game? Did you look at these players' faces and think, oh, they're watching their season end tonight at home?
I thought about it, Suzy, a few days ago because I've covered this whole series. And after game five where they blew out Minnesota, I was talking to some guys in the locker room and I said, does Minnesota know that they're better than you? And a couple of guys said, no, they don't know yet.
They haven't figured it out yet. And it's our job to keep beating them and get another playoff series win before they figure it out. And I think sometime in that third quarter where I talked about where the 15-point lead went to 20 and then that 20-point lead started to dwindle and you could see Jamal Murray getting tired and you could see Jokic ever so slightly getting winded because you're throwing seven footers after him and you're including them in every single action. And you're playing at altitude and you play all these games for this year, you have all this fatigue, you could see it getting to him.
You could see the weight getting to him. And you've got to remember, Suzy, no champion has repeated in the NBA since 2018-19. And that was when, or 17-18, excuse me, when the Golden State Warriors of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, two supernovas at the time. You know what I mean? Like that shows how hard it really is in today's game.
It just shows how different it is. And I think you got to see last night, or I got to see the fatigue on that team that so much has to go right, not just from coaching, from playing, from health. Everything has to go in order and it wasn't going to happen for them. And teams know it before everybody else does. The Nuggets knew that they were going to lose before we knew they were going to lose. Yeah, the Nuggets, the fifth consecutive defending champions to fail to reach the conference finals.
That is a crazy, crazy number. Let's look ahead. Let's project. What are you thinking about as you look at the Western Conference Finals? I'm looking at like styles make fights.
Like that's how we look at all these things. We're looking at strengths versus weaknesses. And the way that Dallas plays, and Dallas doesn't get necessarily a whole lot of credit because they beat a young Oklahoma City Thunder team. Because Dallas was here in the Western Conference Finals a couple years ago. But when you have Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who very quietly, very quietly has put himself in a position where Suzy.
Remember a year or so ago? What was Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden? And we weren't sure where Kyrie Irving would be in the league, if at all, because of all the things that Kyrie had done off the floor. Now Kyrie is quiet. People call him a leader. He's played stable.
People are not going to forget all the other things. But with what he's got in front of him right now, it has helped the Dallas Mavericks get to the point that they're at now. I think the Timberwolves are the better team. I think if you match up player for player, coach for coach is an evenly matched series. But I do think that Minnesota is just a little more dynamic. The problem is when you come up with such an emotional high of beating your rivals, beating the defending champions three times on the home floor, including on the game seven, where you come back from 20 points. I wonder if you can rev up that emotional engine that much more in two days because Dallas has had a couple of more days to rest and beating Oklahoma City that did not take as much out of them emotionally. I give Minnesota the advantage overall, but I would not be surprised if Luka Doncic found himself back in the NBA Finals, but in the NBA Finals for the first time in his career. Because usually what happens in these things is the more desperate team wins.
Hey Vincent, Chris Brockman here. I'm a huge Boston guy. Why does everyone hate Jason Tatum? Why does everybody from Boston think everybody hates them? He thinks everybody hates everybody. He is the most disrespected superstar that we have in this league, maybe in all of sports. All of sports. That is a hot take of hot takes.
I like it. I think to some degree, Chris, Jason Tatum keeps people at a distance. There's this magnetic quality that Anthony Edwards has that he brings you in and you embrace him and you're able to see sort of the youthful exuberance. Jason Tatum is a basketball player and a father.
I don't know if there's that many more layers to him. And the other part of it is we've seen Jason Tatum from the point that he was 17 or 18 years old when he didn't have that great hair. Remember that? Remember he had the low haircut? We were like, man, he looks like a little kid. No beard, no beard, close crop. As a man who just learned to grow a beard in his 30s, I am jealous of a man who could grow a full beard in his 20s and still have a nice hairline. I think with Tatum's game, it isn't as explosive or as dynamic like he fashions Kobe Bryant as being like his spirit animal.
But Jason Tatum is 16 and he's athletic enough, but he doesn't have like that flashy game that draws people in. And let's be honest here. The Celtics have wet the bed more than a few times. Ooh, bring it Vincent, let's go.
So with their, you know, I'm a single man. I have trust issues. I would have trust issues with the Boston Celtics if I was a fan of their franchise. We can't lean on 1987 forever. He also had 51 in a game seven. Nobody else can really say that in NBA history. I'm just saying he's back to back first team all MBAs, but no one ever talks about him as an MVP favorite, the leader of a, you know, it's just, I just want it to end. He needs to win a championship.
I'm dying for it. So everyone can finally shut up about this. But you're right. I think the thing about, you know, he's, everybody knows Deuce. Everyone knows he's really all about ball and that's kind of it. Whereas, you know, Anthony Edwards is in movies and he's going to be the face of this league for a long time. It does feel like Tatum will never actually be the face of the NBA. Well, he can be something better.
He can be a champion, right? Like if you're a Boston Celtics fan, this has to be the year where you're saying you're looking around and you're saying there's no Philadelphia. There's no Milwaukee. There's no Miami boogeyman to worry about. You're looking at this final four and you're saying we're the most experienced team. We're the most, maybe the most talented team and we have the expectation to win.
We expect it to be here. I'm not sure the other three teams in the conference finals can say we expect to be here at this stage on May 20th in the conference finals with designs on going deeper. If the Celtics, I'm going to ask you this question. If the Celtics don't win a title this year. Yes, whatever you're about to say is yes. It'll never happen. No, not that. Not that. I mean, it may be I'm from Detroit, so I revel in Celtic misery.
You know what I mean? But just from a journalistic standpoint, right? You've had Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. Now you've had three different head coaches. You've had Kyrie Irving there. You've had Isaiah Thomas, the smaller one. You've had Marcus Smart. You've had all these different iterations of teams who could contend, but yet you can't close the door. And the one time you got to the NBA finals, you had the Golden State Warriors on the ropes. And in the words of Dennis Green, you let them off the hook. You tell me how you're supposed to feel if you do not win a championship this year, not just a failure, but where do you go from here?
Do you run it back or do you look and try to make wholesale changes? Because I would think running it back would kind of be a foolish. Then how scary is it going to be this pacer Celtic series?
Because Tyrese Halliburton is a very, very bad man. He is, but I feel like this series is once again set up for the Celtics if they take it seriously. So the Celtics go through this thing where they would give away a game and then they'll just lose another game. Like from a talent standpoint, they should sweep them, right? But they're not going to sweep them because the Celtics don't take things seriously. And if there's one team that can handle Tyrese Halliburton and the pace that he plays at and the speed, it would be guys like Drew Holliday and Derek White and Jalen Brown.
They all have the size. They all have the speed. They are all switchable that they can actually defend him without getting in a whole lot of foul trouble. We're still being able to keep the pace up and to do defense better than the Pacers do defense. If you're looking at this roster man to man, I would tell you that the Celtics should sweep this team, but I don't think they will sweep this team. I think they will get to the finals and they'll get an adequate amount of rest. But I think this is not a series for the Celtics to play with their food just because the Indiana Pacers aren't the Knicks or the Bucks or the Heat. OK, so you're saying I think you're reading between the lines, Celtics, Mavs, correct? I am saying I plan on being at Prince's house during the NBA Finals.
That's what I'm saying. I plan on taking a visit to Paisley Park during the NBA Finals. And I can't do that if I'm at Jerry World.
I hear you're getting a little red Corvette and head over to Prince's house. What's that sign on your lower right I'm seeing behind you? I can't quite read it. I wonder what it says.
It says in honor of, you know, I'm a Michigan native and all that. It says 117 to 74 new day. That is the score of the Michigan Ohio State game from the last three years. 117 to 74 new day because, you know, maybe there's an Ohio State coach whose last name is Day. And he said he was going to hang one hundred on Michigan. And since he's had one hundred, I'm going home somewhere.
Rich Eisen is in tears wiping away those tears of joy. I think you should probably plan on coming on the show all the time. Vincent Goodwill, thank you so much for your time.
Loved having you on. I appreciate you guys. You're fantastic. How about the sneakers in the background?
The kicks. That's a great looking set. Fantastic. Nice work.
Beautifully done. He's got a pair of Air Raids back there. When was the last time you seen those? What size are those is the question.
And do what they fit me. I'll send them to you, Susie. You're the greatest, Vincent. Have a great day. We hope you come back on soon.
Thanks again. I love him. I want him on all the time. He's fantastic.
Love it. Right. I mean, I think he was fantastic. TJ, your thoughts on that shoe collection in the background for all of you listening on the radio. He had he had dollars worth of shoes on the shelf behind him.
That was a great looking set. No doubt. What do you think, TJ? What's your thoughts on that? On the on his assessment of the finals looking ahead?
I think he pretty much is spot on. I don't know who comes out of the West, to be honest with you. I my initial thought is the T wolves, but it's almost like maybe it's Lucas time, you know. But then it could be it's time. I don't know.
I don't have an idea. But I am looking so forward to watching this because you've got two teams who when they made their moves, when Kyrie went to the Mavs, everybody, everybody who had an opinion was like, this isn't going to work. You got two ball dominant guards.
There's no way this is what is going to work. And yet here this team is finding themselves in the Western Conference finals. When go bear went to the T wolves.
It was the same thing. Nobody thought. How are they going to work these two, seven footers together? This doesn't make sense. This isn't going to work. Look where they're at now.
They're in the Western Conference finals. So I. Nobody could have predicted this at the beginning of the season. And I'm kind of happy with that because this is going to keep me more engaged. And I think it's going to hopefully draw more viewers, more eyes. You've got a guy like Ant.
Like, how can you not love this dude? You know, and so. As far as the Celtics go, you know, I. I would hope that they don't win just because I don't want Brockman to be happy about the socks when we'll talk a lot more stuff. As we come back, we'll talk a lot more about the Celtics. Tom Pelicero ahead in the second hour and also win loss.
Everybody who calls in, they get fruitcake. It's done. The goal of the year. Part of the past. The celebrations. Forgotten. The history. History. We're back to a blank slate.
Clean ice. All that matters now is what happens next. The Stanley Cup playoffs.
Eastern Conference final begins Wednesday. What's up, everyone? It's reality. Steve, your number one source for all things Bachelor Nation and reality TV every day. I'm giving you the behind the scenes juice and your info on all your bachelor nation stories and also interviewing some of your favorite reality stars.
My name has been synonymous with spoilers, but I'm so much more than that. Give me a listen. The Reality Steve podcast, part of the Believe Network.
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Why not? It's Memorial Day looking ahead of us. And I think that's a great way to go. We're going to play the win loss game because everybody knows how I feel about color. So Tom, Matt the Barber, hold on. But Dave, let's start with you. Win loss and you are going for the bass.
Yes. How are you today? I'm doing good.
I love your show. I didn't know it was rich not being there if you were going to play it or not. But let's do this. Oh my God, we're so playing it. Chris Brockman's going to play it with you. Let's go, Chris. Let's go. OK, Dave, hold on a second.
I got to write this down. Dave, where are you from? Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is about 10 minutes away from Omaha, Nebraska. Council Bluffs, Iowa. You should go to the bar with Terzo.
Terzo, where's Terzo from? He's in... Des Moines. He's in Des Moines. Yeah, well that's like... It's so far away.
It's far away? Alright, I have no idea. Alright, Bears. Here we go. Week one. Home for the Titans.
When? Week two. At Houston.
Lost. At Indianapolis. Week three. Their week, we win. Home for the Rams. Week four.
Yeah, that's a loss. Week five. Home for the Panthers. That's a W. Home for Jacksonville.
Three straight home games. That's a W. By week. Week seven. Week eight at Washington.
That's a W. At Arizona. Week nine. Their week.
W. Wow. Home for the Patriots. Week ten. Come on.
Choose wisely, Dave. That's a loss. Alright, week twelve.
W. Wow. Week eleven. Packers. Home. Yeah, we lose to that one. Man, three straight home games again.
Week twelve. Minnesota. Win.
Wow. At Detroit. Is that Thanksgiving?
Yeah, that's a no. Thanksgiving. At Detroit. Week thirteen. That's a no. At San Francisco. Week fourteen.
I rooted for them in the Super Bowl. That's a no. At Minnesota. Week fifteen. On Monday night.
That's a W. Let's see. Where are we here? Home for Detroit. Week sixteen. This is really small print.
I'm doing the rest of them. Really small print. Home for Seattle. Week seventeen. That's a W. You guys winning the Super Bowl this year or what, Dave? At Green Bay. Week eighteen.
That's a L. Man, I love this game. Everyone's so optimistic. Hey, man.
We got Caleb Williams. Eleven and six for the Bears. It's a new day for you, Dave.
It's a new day for you. Eleven and six Bears. I love it. Thanks, Dave. Eleven and six Bears. How do we feel about that?
I think that's optimistic. I think it's a happy day in Council Bluffs. Thanks for calling in. Really appreciate your time. We're going to take all of your calls, like I said. Matt the Barber, love it. Tom, Dave, the rest of you are on hold. We're going to clear the phone lines each and every day when I sit in this chair. You guys come first.
Well, after me, of course. So, Cooper was on while you were gone. Did he do the Pats? And he did the Pats win-loss. Did he have us three and fourteen?
He was optimistic but realistic. How about that? Is that fair? I've got to find it. We're not going to win a lot of games.
I hope you broke it to him gently. We're going to suck, right? Yes. It's going to be bad. I don't think suck is the right word. I don't think we're going to get blown out a lot.
But I don't think there are a lot of wins. No. I'm cool with this. I'm not cool with this. Who said that? Joker.
Is that a joker? Yeah. By the way, I'm totally fine with it. Let's think again. Next year doesn't matter. Next year doesn't matter. All I want them to do is teach that kid so that when he comes in, he's ready to play. Do not rush Drake onto the field. Please.
God, no. Give him time. Let him learn, right? If he plays before mid-December, I'm going to be so pissed. And everyone's like, oh, he could be the next CJ Stroud. What?
I just want him to sit and learn and watch so that when he gets out there, Mayo can get things happening. Correct? Correct. Let's go three and fourteen.
No big deal. Let's have another top three pick. Let's take whoever the stud lineman is in next year's draft. Or maybe there's a Marvin Harrison in there, TJ.
I don't know. I kind of like the wide receivers that we drafted. I like who they drafted. We need more players. We don't have a lot of good players. So let's lose a bunch of games again. You know, look, you've got to punt on twenty-four so we can celebrate in twenty-five. You know what I mean?
I know what you mean. I'm ready. I hear what it was that I'm picking up what you're putting down. Smelling, I'm cooking.
Tom Pellicero ahead on the Rich Eisen show. You've got two hours to go. Pipe down over there. Heh heh heh. E-L-E-A-V on YouTube or wherever you listen.
