WED POD @SpenceChecketts on Lakers @ Jazz downtown tonight, Eagles #SBLIX title, Holmoe retires, NHL/UHC + more

allowed Cincinnati to take the win. Bring them Young with a quad one win on the road last night in Morgantown beating West Virginia a really good college basketball game. Diego Demon hit a big three and a couple of free throws, and BYU was able to get the win, and as of now they are one of the four last four teams in according to Joe Lonardi after getting a quad one win. As the Big twelve season continues to unfold, Utah Women taking on Colorado seven o'clock tonight

here in Salt Lake City the Huntsman Center. So we've got some college basketball on the show today. Of course, we have some NBA basketball on the show today as well.

As the President bringing me on, was sitting next to Tom Shane, Reese and Shane talked about President Reese talked about the process that they will take take on now to try to replace what in many ways it has to be a very very successful twenty year stretch with Tom Homo at at the home. So a lot of topics today, a lot of things to get to on the program. Good guest list right out of the gates,

mikey amb will stop by from the NFL Network. We'll do some college and pro football with Mike Neil Smith. Excuse me, something just flew directly in my mouth that felt like a Bugold, Nope.

Talked to Smitty about what he's seen from the Jazz so far and ultimately what he's hoping to see from these young kids as they move forward.

the minutes for a guy that's forty years old. Hey, why not get a guy that does a lot of the things he can do and might be doing it for the next ten to fifteen years.

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based institution. You have to align yourself with a mission of Brigham Young well at the same time leading the athletic department forward into whatever's next. And I think Tom probably did that better than anybody could have expected. It is a challenging task, and I've said oftentimes both on this show and other shows I've done in the market nearly twenty years now, being the athletic director of BYU, I don't know if it's the hardest job in college athletics,

but it is among the hardest jobs. And I thought Tom was very front facing and forthcoming and honest today during his presson, or maybe more so than I'd ever heard him before. And it's always funny when you get the guy that's just retired, or you get the guy that's just changed teams, then you get the real deal.

Then you actually get the story right now that they're not tied down to actually tow the line and say the things that they're supposed to say every time they do media or every time they're front facing in public. Among the most interesting things I heard from Tom today during his presser is about four or five years into the job. Four or five years into I guess independence would be the better way to put that. He went home to his wife Laurie and said, I can't do this.

This is too hard, you know, to navigate independence, and I'll continue to say this. To navigate independence, to navigate everything you have to navigate as the athletic director while aligning yourself to the values of a place as unique and as stringent, honestly speaking as Brigham Young, is a remarkable accomplishment that Tom should walk away feeling very proud of.

taking over from Bronco. You know, at times was a little tenuous and there were questions, but he settled in now and obviously he's the right guy for that program. He hired Dave Rose, which probably Dave is the best basketball coach in the history of Brigham Young. He hired Mark Pope, who would still be here if Mark didn't leave for one of the best jobs in all of

college basketball University of Kentucky. I still have some questions about Kevin Young, but the early returns as far as talent acquisition for the basketball program with Kevin in charge have been nothing other than a Grand slam Yegor Demon Cannon catching's two NBA players. They probably have some other pros on that roster this year, and then aj Debontsa rolling into town next year is the number one recruit in the country. Under you know, Kevin Young, you cannot

argue with the talent. I do think there's some questions about the coaching, but only time will tell. But ultimately Tom is a good and he did a great job down there for what I perceive to be one of, if not the hardest jobs in all of college athletics. Administration the athletic director at BYU. Man that's a tough gig, and whoever's next is taking over for a legend, which

is always a tough thing. But having the big twelve landing spot, which I think is the crown jewel achievement of Tom Homo's tenure, will allow whoever takes over more of a runway than Tom had.

But I will say this, they just trade for Devonte Adams right and were willing to continue even as the wheels were falling off, and they had fired Robert Sala at that point. They said, hey, let's keep building, let's keep trying to make a push here. And clearly it wasn't enough, but I think the organization had to say it in themselves. This is what Aaron Rodgers does. This

is the offense that he brings to the table. He's at a stage in his career two years ago where it's like, yo, he wants the guys that are comfortable in that system, understand where they need to be when they need to be there, and they're not going to make a bunch of play calls. And not to go on a tangent here, I was talking to a Polleague of Mind and NFL network Isaiah standback and he's down

in that Dallas area. We were together for the Shrine Bowl a couple weeks ago when the Cowboys decided to go a shot and Himer and he turns to me and you see, you know why this is a really good move for Dak.

comfortable as possible. Look, it didn't work out the first season, gets hurt obviously, a couple snaps into the game, and we're now seeing where if you're coming off an Achilles injuries, sometimes you're just not going to look right, like as Kirk Cousins, the Kirk Cousins that I saw for most of this year, or is he closer to the one that I saw two years ago. When he's really healthy, I would argue, like it hurts not as bad as what we witnessed there. I just don't think he was healthy.

And I think as Aaron Rodgers started to get a little bit healthy as the season went on, he did start to look a little bit better, but you know, a little too late, and they had to go and move on.

it's not my opinion that that's going to happen. And if that's the case, guys like Aaron Rodgers, I think, do find a home. And by the way, do you think he wants to finish out this way? There's a part of me that says no, like he's he wants to get back out there.

not going in the wrong direction. Do you think we're on this trajectory where every year we're going to see the audiences grow.

being made behind the scenes. But can you imagine globally, because we talked about the NFL at least in headquarters as a global sport, and I think there's a real

argument for it. When you talk about these games that are selling out in Munich and Brazil and obviously we're going to get in Ireland right now, Like that's all great, but when they haven't even come close to tapping that market, like I haven't heard the conversations about a game in Japan or China or insert you know, in Asian country. So I think that there's still a ridiculous amount of legs for this sport.

the conversation about Jalen. I just wasn't like it felt like they were intentionally rushing the football because I had a great offensive line and they have probably the best running back of this generation, and a couple of years ago in the Super Bowl, Jalen passed for over three hundred Like he can throw the football. And yes, I know there are some numbers to be critical of and maybe the lack of accuracy from time to time, and he might have the best one two punch as far

as receivers in the entire NFL. But I just I always believed that at some point that this dude was going to get it done. I've been a fan of his way back in Bama when he lost his job and stayed in college and stayed the course.

was bothering me. I do a new podcast with Lamar Hurt, who I know is a buddy of yours and has probably been on the show a million times that we were talking about it last night actually on the episode, and I said to him, like, I got to the point where I was really disappointed with and it's partly my fault too, right, Like I could have spoken up on like the five hour Super Bowl Live show that I did last week, right, like you're doing all this coverage and I'm thinking to myself, like i'd get the

low hanging fruit of legacy with Mahomes and going for a repeat and the tailor Show Travis Kelsey situation. But there was one point, Spence, like during the week, I was working with David Carr and in one of our commercial breaks, I turned to him and I just said, do you see it the way that I see it? And he looked at me and he's like, where are you going with this? And I said, I see a world where the Chiefs win small like, for sure they can win this game. I mean, look at the season,

look at the team, look at my homes. Of course they can win the Super Bowl. But I see it where the Eagles can win a close game. But I got to tell you, I also see the Eagles mashing this team, and I don't see Kansas City being able to say the same thing. And he started to laugh and he said, I've been thinking the same thing, and I go, I'm not going to say that on air just because I'm the host, right, like he's the analyst.

And he did pick Philadelphia in that game. They didn't think it was going to be a wrecking ball the way that he didn't say it was going to be a wrecking ball the way that it turned out. But as Jalen Hurts is on that podium, Spence I started thinking to myself, why not the Eagles being the new dynasty. And I'm not suggesting Kansas City is going away. All

I'm saying is Jalen Hurts is young. Right, So they got a guy who's in place who two years ago was in the MVP conversation that we've built their coordinators two seasons ago off of that loss, and it was a bad year for Nick Sirianni.

that front seven and in the back end. I just look at that and go, hey, really, I don't think is going anywhere. And maybe I'm just being dramatic because it's they're coming off the Super Bowl win, but I really do think the framework.

they are young. What are you willing to say about what is now possible after watching them just dismantle this modern day dynasty in Kansas City?

the NFC and one is in the AFC. And that's the Baltimore Ravens, and then I would throw the Lions in with the Eagles.

I think you got a chance at the end. And to me, that's why I think Philadelphia because of some of those ages that you reference, and because they have a general manager willing to wheel and deal to get this team to this point. Like the Eagles always seem to be active, always seem to pull the right strings, and it's usually not a train wreck like they don't have like these god awful, you know, seasons where you just shake your head and go, what the heck happened?

Like maybe they don't live up to the hype, but that's why I really do think like the Eagles absolutely are in the next the next couple of seasons.

one who saw that? Like you're you're sitting there and you're you're seeing Mahomes kind of run around, and you have flashes of the you know, a Todd Bowles defense in a huge game like the Super Bowl, Just like the dude's head was on a swivel and you look at the tackles on that offensive line and they weren't holding up, and they weren't holding up even when Philly wasn't think I think I saw this, God I should. You would think I would have gone through our postgame

research package like eight hundred times. But I'm almost positive that Philly did not blitz in that game and still was able to generate that much pressure. So when I see Mahomes have that type of look, that's at that point I was like, oh, like this, this ain't going to be good for these dudes.

fifteen hundred center. What does the offseason look like and do you anticipate a recalibration and maybe a second or third act with this Kansas City Chiefs team.

Super Bowl. And I think the one thing that Bert Beach is needing to sort to figure out here in the next couple weeks ahead of the draft is how do I fill some of these gaps? And there were

gaps on that offensive line. People felt like the shift with Joe Tuni on that offensive line, moving him to the left tackle was going to be enough, and for eight weeks or so, it was, But I think we forgot what the first half of the season looked like for Mahomes, interceptions were piling up, sacks were piling up for him, and there was an unsteady nature around this offense.

I think clearly they need a playmaker on that outside to go along with a new Xavier Worthy de hop Unfortunately, you know, wasn't that guy They had to do with injuries with Hollywood Brown. You know, they need to figure out that backfield, but Checko was banged up, you know, like they just never really got that production. But first and foremost is how do you solidify an offensive line

in front of Patrick Mahomes? And then how do you add some depth and some pieces on the offensive side, And more importantly, because it's the defense that carried them these last two years, how do you make sure you're in a good spot. So I think you know, in no particular well actually in a particular order. Offensive line's got to be like first, second, and third, and then it's another playmaker, whether it's a running back or a wide receiver, and we got to add some depth to that defense.

touchdowns in that game and he looked good. And it's funny this time last year, as he's getting ready for the draft, Michael Robinson on one of my buzz and colleagues in NFL, kept telling me he's like, yo, man, I think I might like him better than Caleb. And it was so hard for me to boot the skinny, thin kid, who, by the way, you know, goes to

LSU and has eyesmen. It's not like I need to see him play really well in his last stop, but it's hard sometimes to boot you those early perceptions that you have of a guy.

Kudos to Sean Payton in that regard as well. The only pushback and by the way, I'm not the only one saying this, and I'm not saying it's going to happen, but no, Cijo Strout took a little bit of a step back, I thought this past season, and how do you ensure that that's not the case for four or Jane and Daniels. I don't know what I would point to other than I think some teams figured out how

to make CJ a little uncomfortable. They had some real injuries that they needed to navigate, and I thought that was a factor they were rushing him defenses. I felt like he was under more pressure this season than he was in his rookie campaign. But it feels like Jane's got a slightly different skill set because of his mobility, what he does with his legs, where he might be able to negate some of that stuff and be just as good, if not better, in year two.

personalities that are out there. By and large, I think there's so much optimism around getting an offensive guy who can really work and mold the guy that I thought was a generational type talent coming out of school in Caleb Williams. You know, I would give this context to Jared Goff was almost left for dead, and I couldn't be happier that this guy is balled out the way that he has. You know, they've had some great pieces in Detroit around him, but then was able to get

the best out of Jared Goff. And now I think, hey, you've got a guy like Caleb Williams and there are pieces to that offense that are pretty talented. Can you get this team over the hum And there's a part of me that says, you know, they're one of those squads who, you know, I thought they'd be good this year. Obviously there were some real struggles for him and the wheels fell off for him, But I do think next year I would point to them as a team that would be one of the more dangerous ones.

You know, Sorry, my frame of reference sometimes, like I don't realize that I'm getting old and I'm forty three now and you know, like twenty eighteen wasn't just two years ago. I'd also argue college doesn't seem that long ago. But you remember that Penn State match against that Sea and you know, just kind of like the head to head stuff, and there were so much buzz around Sam, and I know it didn't play out great for him in his NFL career, but this resurgence has been has

been remarkable. And I do think that while the ending was not great for Sam, Kevin O'Connell and like the position he was in at least in that last game raised a couple eyebrows for a few of us at NFL Network as we were doing some of our shows around it. It felt like there weren't like a ton of great adjustments in that game in that second half,

and Sam obviously struggled. But Sam deserves another opportunity. I think he gets it, And you know, do I think he gets like a forty million dollar, you know deal somewhere. I don't know if that's the case, but you know, hell, I mean, you know, three weeks left in the season, it was looking like that.

a lot of questions. So I'm going to ask you the same question before I said you loose that I asked you about Washington.

talented running backs in the NFL. Did feel like bow was under a lot of pressure to deliver, and by the way he did. You know, Jaden doesn't have Jaden season? Well next to the guy, I mean, it's sort of the same conversation, which is how good can Washington be? How good could Denver be? Well, it turns out pretty damn good. And while people wanted to see Cincinnati sink into the postseason, it was Denver grabbing that last spots. And kudos to that team for having that type of season.

But to me, I really do think another playmaker. And I know we had to get to play with his college buddy in Franklin, but I do think there needs to be more of a conservative effort on the offensive side to build.

spot for social media right now. I know they call it except Yeah, but before I set you lose fried Rice and Marinara, you've written a children's book and you also have a new podcast. So tell our listeners where they can go get your work.

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Prize Picks run your game all season long. A little bit of breaking news, only because we've been covering this story quite a bit, the Department of Education has recinded the It was not a ruling. It was just a memo sent around by the Department of Education prior to Joe Biden leaving the White House and Donald Trump taking over that NIL would be under Title nine guidelines, and that has been rescinded. We'll get back to it because there is some storylines applicable to our local scene here.

We're also going to bring in Neil excuse me, Richard Smith. Neil Smith's on the phone. We're bringing him in right now. But Richard Smith live in studio. He gets ready for Jazz Laker Sean saiad for some DFL. But the aforementioned Neil Smith stops by for our weekly conversation about the world of professional hockey.

game and just enjoy yourself. You don't need, you know, you don't need to really know the score, just going to enjoy the day. So but I mostly, you know, grew up in Canada. I'm a Canuck. I'm all hockey all the time.

enjoy watching the four Nations. But the other gms, I can tell you, are just sitting there praying that their guys don't get hurt. I think for the gms that aren't involved, you know, it's all of the above. It's what you said. They're looking to see who they should add. Are they a seller, are they a buyer? Where have they got a realistic chance? And they're evaluating their lineup

and they're evaluating their injuries. And this is a great break for a player who's got a nagging injury to get a couple of ten days to two weeks off to rest and heal.

You and I have talked about this all year. Nine to twelve and six at home is really not going to do it. I mean, the other there only have nine games at home. That's two less than Vancouver has at home. That's seven less than Calgary has at home, three less than Saint Louis has at home, and it's four less than Anaheim Ducks have at home. So if they were just five hundred, if they were twelve, if they were twelve, twelve and three, you know, that's a

big deal. That's an extra three point so they would have in the standings, which would put them even closer. So that being not good on home ice, which is the opposite of where they were at Mullet Arena back in Arizona, has really cost them this season.

game in Washington. They got a big lead on the best team in the league, and then they were able to come back and tie them in the last seconds of the game, and then Utah went on to win in the shootout, but they start what we call squeezing your stick tighter, meaning that you get all nervous, like, oh my god, here we go again. Are we going to lose again. We can't lose again. We can't lose again.

That's what happens to an inexperienced team. An experienced team goes up to nothing, goes up to nothing, gets a goal scored on them. They go, so what you know, inexperienced team is so happy that they've got the lead, and then the other team scores and they go, oh my god, no, please, please, don't do this again. So it's it's just a maturation process. And yeah, you're right,

this is not an expansion team. It's an established team, but it's a young team and we're going to have to get experience in how to handle and protect the lead.

to go, fourteen at home, twelve on the road. It's not going to be easy at this point, and Vancouver is the odds on favorite to get into the playoffs. And remember, they were really good team last year. This year they've hit a lot of different self inflicted roadblocks. But I think, you know, the GM Armstrong and his staff should be, you know, pre they should be moderately happy about this season. They've come into the market, they've had a decent year. They've kept themselves in the fight

all the time. And I'm not saying Spencer out of the fight now. They should keep fighting right till the deadline comes, when they've got to make that buyer seller decision. But I would think that they're sitting around saying, what can we do to get a draft picks or young assets so that our team is fortified again for the next year and beyond.

a question for Bill Armstrong. The Milk is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, So do they get him signed and make sure that he's coming back to Utah, or do they see if anybody needs a real good backup that's going into the playoffs, that maybe has got an injury to their backup or maybe has a problem. You're not going to trade them as a number one going into the playoffs, but you might be able to find a team that needs a real quality backup. Do they move them or do they sign

them and keep them in Utah. That's something I certainly can't answer, but I do know he has played. He's been the best go attender this year in my opinion, and I think he has You know, he's an unrestricted guy, so they got to decide what is the future for Tural.

to Utah, so let's look at Utah. They could come to Utah and say, you know, Bukestad, do you have any interest in you know, what are I got to give you the buke Stad or what have I got to give you for Kerkfoot. Those are two guys that Utah has as unrestricted free agents at the end of this season. So that's you know, that's where those top teams and the playoff teams will be trying to fortify

for this run right now. I mean, maybe if Fortuso comes off the ir he's a guy that won a Stanley Cup with Saint Louis back in eighteen, maybe he'd be a guy that someone would warrant as a depth defenseman because you can never have enough when the playoffs start. But that's that's what the teams that are in the mix are going to be looking to add. The teams that aren't in the mix are obviously looking to get whatever they can for their UFAs.

is a veteran team. They've been there, they know how to get there. I'd say it's going to come down to between Washington and Florida, And at the end of the day, I think Florida would win that last round. But that's that's splitting here. You know it's going to be one of those two, I think against Winnipeg, all.

Lebron James on the same team. Lakers are in town, and the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks is under a tremendous amount of heats after moving on from a generational player at the agent twenty five, I wanted to know, Neil, what one transaction that you made as a roster constructor in the NHL, Which one transaction gave you the most anxiety, Like there's a lot riding on this and you decided to go with it anyway because your gut told you to do it.

ever have hoped for. But it did. When you talk about that feeling that you get when you push the button on a big trade and you know, if it doesn't work, guess who's going to get their head cut off. It's going to be you. I mean, that's the one that probably caused me the most anxiety.

there's a lot. There's a lot there. Bobby Or and Phil Esposito in the early seventies when they won two Cups for Boston. There's been quite a few. You know, we have more players that are active during the game in hockey than you do in basketball. So two star players in basketball is probably like four star players in hockey, because you know, we're going on and off the ice a lot more than the basketball players are.

may have played the best game of his career. So I'm not going to pretend like I would have predicted all of that. I'm not going to pretend like I would have predicted the final score in that game. But the way the Eagles.

can start to see it. You see even when Sekwon Barkley is not brisen off big runs, Jalen Hurts, just getting rid of the ball, playing super comfortable, playing on time, start to feel but look, I'm back in the back of my mind, I need I need to see double zero, you know, to tle Patrick Mahomes out. So really it was once you got in that middle of the third quarter,

I've had Devonda Smith touchdown. I was like, all right, I don't need to be silly anymore, there's no way these guys are going to be able to come back.

a double team. And the way that the pass rush was working, where instead of you know, being a fast guy running outside that offensive tackle, they were running straight through those guys and that you know, closes the areas for Mahomes to be able to scramble a little bit. So I really enjoyed seeing that just from an overall pass rushing plan for the Eagles. I thought that was

a good job. I mean, I actually I felt like Andy Reid didn't do the best job in the game where we didn't think of maybe an example or two where they're getting the ball a little bit further down the field. Obviously we have that drop the Hopkins. Of course, some of those touchdowns coming later in the game. I would have really liked to see him just literally, you know, pick the fat, throw the ball to the outside, make those warnerback to tackle over and over because the way

that Fandia was playing, it would have required that. And we saw I think the future down thirty four to nothing by this time. But you know, zabywhere that you catch a quick throwing on Mitchell Tantaple, you you're able to get yards. I think, you know, maybe turning that a little bit earlier would have not won the game, but I think it would have made it a bit closer.

nice if you could run the ball. You know, there's a clip of Nolan Smith putting Tray Smith like on his are really pushing him far back. I mean, the Eagles were more physical than the Chiefs were upfront. They really were able to push them around. I'm not really sure if any plan would have worked on that day.

this game and then the NFC Championship game. So when you look at how the Eagles looked in week eight, in Week ten, you know, it didn't feel if Kirts was going to be able to do this.

this guy's gonna get fired and be an offensive. It sits in somewhere next year where he's never going to

be able to get his chance again. I just think that there are things that happen in an NFL locker room, in the NFL building that a head coach is responsible for that it is unquantifiable and you start to hear some of the stories come out, whether it's Who're on writing his handwritten note Siseeah Rodgers who mixed the season for a gambling subspension, whether it's you know, talking to na Kobe Dean after his injury and figuring out different things to get him in the best spot. And I

mean you think about the locker room overall. Obviously these are incredibly talented players, there's still personalities right where Adie Brown had early in the game or earlier in the season, he had said out loud and he said the correct thing, like what's not working. It's the passing game. It's there for him to be able to navigate all that, for him to be able to navigate his relationship with Jalea hurts where you know sometimes in the media it hurts.

Is like not that he is unfriendly to the media, but I think he's trying to, you know, get through his day. He's trying to get back to the real hard work of it all. So I just think Syriann, he does deserve credit. Now, what is it exactly for?

I think it is some of those kind of human human aspects that we just don't get to see unless like you see that the way that he high fives his players on on the sidelines, or you see the way that the players do take on that personality a little bit where Suriani is gonna like almost like you

have a shield for other players. Where there was a game last year against the Seahawks where Hurts and ager Brown make this kind of odd decision for a specific player ends up as interception and seriality just goes up

to the media. It's like, look, that was my call, and how do I want people to lie to the media, know, not necessarily, but for him to take the fall on that and to kind of make himself look like a little bit of a fool in that situation for his players to be able to, you know, just continue to work on what they need to work on. So seeing that for Sirianni, it's got to feel awesome, because, look, no one can ever remove Super Bowl champion head coach from his resume.

getting an interview if they're doing a full interview. I assudn't have to do in the interview process Jess because he was someone that also interviewed with them previously. There's a few other internal candidates, you know. For the situation overall, it's it's kind of a dream job. You have the best offensive line in the league, you have a super Bowl VT quarterback, and you have a very good running back.

You have really good receivers. So all the things are there that I hope that they go outside the building. I think that's my initial leading just so you can get a little.

twenty eight. AJ Brown is twenty seven, DeVante Smith is twenty six, And yes, they have some decisions to make on other pieces, but the main portion of this roster is either in or entering their prime. And I'm not a hyperbolic radio host, but what are you willing to say about potentially the type of I don't know, era of Eagles football that we're in for. Should they be able to keep the ball this team together for a number of years.

chance they lose that bond. Darius Slaves getting a little bit older. I think when I look ahead to next year, I always think, well what about You know, a specific team is more likely to look a little bit closer to average, whether that's something that's not good or something that's very good. It's so hard to reheat as the top defense by statistics year after year. I love Vic Fangio, you know so much, and watching this defense. I really

enjoyed going through this roster. You still have Dylan Carter, you have the genie in year two, you have Mitchell in year two. You have so much talent on that team. Sometimes fifty fifty balls just end up at touchdowns instead of interceptions or incompletion. So, you know, I just worry about this the coin flip and just appreciating how many things have to happen for you to be able to,

you know, climb that top of the mount. And of course you know the commanders and Jayson Daniels, they're they're really going to be pushing. But this team is in like a good financial health situation where you will see things about people saying, oh, you know, like the bill's gonna come due eventually, and you know that can be true.

Like players, we're gonna get a little bit older. It's not gonna happen for a little bit though, They're going to keep you know, you push that, you kick the can down the road in terms of having to, you know, have this kind of salary account blow up, You're able to kind of manipulate it in a few different ways that I just wish other teams would do that in

the same way. You know, teams just should, like if you learn anything from the Evils model, it should be that because you're gonna have to pay multiple players a lot of money, it's not a league where you can afford to not do that. So I'm excited to see what the Eagles look like going forward. I really just want to see Gillen Hurt continue to grow. You know, he unfortunately is going to have another new offensive coordinator

as you just mentioned. I want to see him as a really really positive passer going into next season.

I'm going to talk about what's gonna happen with Chris Jones. I do think Chris Jones still has a lot of good football played. And as you mentioned, it's so hard to like bet against Patrick Mahomes.

So I actually want to see this offense get back to a little bit more of that downfield attack as opposed to like, you know, we're just gonna get five yards on the inside runs. We're gonna throw the ball quick and that, and you know it really starts with that offensive lick.

You have a very talented roster, like I don't want us to forget that where guys at Quinna Williams Safs Gardner on defense, of course, I think the offensive line, you know, but there are some some positive spots on there. I think that the decision to say, hey, like Aaron, like you know, we're moving forward. That's also to me a signal of a smart organization just based on where Rogers is, based on what it means for the Teamal is it you have to have a year of Tyrod Taylor.

Everything's getting in solved, you know. I don't want to tell you to not watch football next season, like there is a chance that it's going to be a little bit of a tough ride. I grew up in the area, so I understan in how many times you have to

hear like Jeff's rebuild Jeffs rebuild. I think when you look at some of the hires that they made up and down and even like the senior advisors and things like that, where you're bringing people with experience, I think just in the right areas, it gets me excited at that level. Now it really is gonna pend how things happen on the field where you're obviously in a division where no, you're going to be looking at Josh Allen a whole heck of a lot.

I think where Darnald ends up will be fascinating. He it feels like it could be a situation. I don't know. Maybe's it Las Vegas just a place where you have the kind of holdover quarterback another year. I think Josh Sweat, you know, is it Arizona. I think a guy like Milan Williams is coming off at Super Bowl is the charge?

Adding agency is exciting even if there's not you know, one hundred names that you can't wait to look at, but like crazy, it's just so important, Like you want to fill your roster to the point where you go into the draft and can actually just choose the most talented player instead of choosing a player and say, hey, if we don't, you know, hit on our right guard

in the draft, our team is totally foiled. I think it'll be interesting to see, you know, what teams are making, what mover in attatches to move that happened, you know immediately when kind of those transactions are able to start happening sometimes a little bit later in free agency as well.

still believe in Trevor Lawrence. I think what Cohen gave in Tampa Bay with Jaker Maseld and really Morphing his offense from a little bit more, uh, you know, in their run game that really really evolved over time. So I think that I'm excited about that now. I think one of my favorite things about head coaching hires, there's a chance that like Schoenheimer is the best head coach that ever existed. We just don't know until we're able

to see it. So I'm excited for Colling as the chance it doesn't work out, but that's probably my favorite one where Ben Jonson think is also an easy answer as well, Sean.

say too night on a Wednesday at six o'clock. But it's time now for your chance to win Utah men's basketball tickets. Text youths right now. That's utes to three three, nine eight six. Text utes to three three and nine eight six for your chance to win tickets to see the Utah men's basketball program. How do you feel that most every NFL guest we have and I'm like, hey, which coaching hired do you hate the most, they all say shot and Ira.

or whatever it was. And so everybody was engaged in that all all all all game long, and it came down right to the right to the end, and I had I had my whole card completed except for one one square and that was the missfield goal, which it wasn't any missfield goal, right, But we were arguing the fact that earlier in the game, if you remember, one of the long sideline passes resulted in a passing apference and and I said, well, the passing apference was because

the guy grabbed his face mask. That's a face mask. And I have a square on my card that says penalty by face mask. I said, that's a penalty. No, no, it wasn't. They didn't call a face mask. They said it was passing apference. I said it was passing apference because he grabbed his face right. That was no, No, that that doesn't you know. So this is the kind of family arguments you get, you know, when the big candy bar is on the line for the winner.

you think about it. I'm just curious as too, as somebody who made a career in pro sports, why you think pro football has been able to capture this market share?

And you know, there are a few different reasons, and you know, totally, I was home with my family for the Super Bowl and I was watching with all my nieces and nephews, and we had our little square game going on and all the you know, nieces and nephews were allowed to pick a square and towards the end of the game, because at this point the kids were upstairs playing it was a blowout, they didn't give a rip.

But my nine year old nephew, Teddy comes up to me and he says, Uncle Spencer, will you come and get me if Kansas City scores a touchdown but misses the extra point, because if that happens, I'm gonna win.

got the most points this week or whatever. But that isn't done with any other sport, right, Nobody does it with you know, any other time of the year for anything else. Right, And so I don't know, I don't know if it's because it's the once a week thing. I don't know if it's because it's the time of year, you know, in the fall. And I mean, I'm not I'm not quite sure exactly what the what the great

great holders. I do know that I've always thought, you know, especially you know, the way technology is now in the last fifteen twenty years and the way they show slow motion and they and they do all this stuff, is is you know that it's gotten more to me of somewhat of the gladiator type thing, the Roman times, where everybody's in the in the arena and they're rooting for the get smashed on the on the on the block or whatever it is, or tackled you know, and and

thrown up in the air and or whatever during the during the course of a game. So I don't know if that's it or what the you know, how they ended up marketing it this way, but part of it, I think, I don't know how far down the line

it gets about. They have done a good job over the years with the salary cap stuff and the way they put their schedules together, you know, the you know, during the course of the season, the guys who played well last year play each other next year, you know, you know, outside of your division and stuff, and then they purposely do that so that you know, in week sixteen, seventeen eighteen, most of the teams are eight and eight or they're nine and seven or whatever, and so a

lot of teams have a chance to get in the last week or two. And I don't know if maybe that's part of the stick that everybody's feels like they you know, their dog is still the race most of the most of the year. I'm not quite sure how that plays out.

capture international audiences. The NBA doesn't really sweat the domestic stuff because their revenue streams internationally are far greater than pro footballs as far as the global sports, Soccer's won basketball's too, and so they are able to mitigate maybe some revenue or ratings or eyes or attention domestically because of what they bring in internationally. But as far as the attention span of the American sports fan, why do you think basketball has not been able to keep up?

You know, you have an arm bar, but you can't you know, turn them one way the other and so it's all, you know, relegated to trying to legislate the game so that we have these one forty you know, one thirty five games, you know, where where the good games back in our day, Spence used to be the you know, you know the Knicks Pacers, Uh, you know, grind them house. Yeah, you know, you know, eighty nine,

eighty five and whatever, and you know. But but but I just think that that some of it is it looks it looks to me a little bit a little bit like there's too much offense. We we don't do enough to help the defensive guys. Everybody wants to score and dunk and and no, and nobody plays defense, you know, per se, you know, because you can see how the

scoring is. And some of it's because the way the game is legislated and the way that the rules are, and maybe the fans look at that and go, I don't know, feels a little bit like wrestling or something like where they're just it's a little bit artificial because they're not really playing a whole game. They're only playing on one side of the court, that makes any sense.

I don't this is anecdotal. I don't really know how to like where to grasp this issue to say, Okay, it's this or that or whatever. But you know, a lot of possessions Halliburton dribbles the ball down the floor, puts it through his legs three times, takes a step back three and you're.

I mean, if you don't perform and you don't play your position, you know, you could be you know, the ones obviously that A publicized, the most of the kickers who miss a crucial kick or two extra points in the game, and you see on Monday they cut the guy and on Wednesday they're having tryouts for a new guy who's going to be the kicker on Sunday, you know.

And and there's a lot of the other you know, other players, offensive, defensive linemen, linebackers who some guys have guaranteed contracts, but a lot of them are you know, might be you know, could get cut or they or they they you know, they get hurt, you know, they go on the injured list and you don't see them again.

And I don't know if has anything to do with that, you know, relative to like the NBA, where virtually every guy on the roster has a guaranteed contract, and especially after you know, the early January date this year, I think it was January sixth or January eighth or something, which is a guaranteed date. So if you had a non guaranteed contract and you're on the roster after that date, then your your contract's guarantee for the rest of the year, even if you don't play a minute, you know. So

I don't know. I've always thought there's some problem with that in the NBA, where there's too much quote free money and nobody really has to go out and earn it per se. Once they get it and you know it, and there's something to the sense of urgency that if I don't perform tonight and I don't I don't play hard, and I don't dive on the floor, and I don't step in and try and take a charge or whatever it is, that I may not be on the team

on Friday. You know, that's not a that's not a feeling, you know, because you know, you know, even if they let you go, they don't like you for whatever reason you're not playing well whatever, Well, I made it past the guarantee date, so I'm getting my MI in your mind, all that kind of thing. So I don't know if there's something to that that all those a link together and people are going, yeah, well, these guys are getting paid a lot of money and they don't really look

like they're playing hard. I don't know why I should invest my time in that, you know.

You know, these guys have all been traded, These things have happened before. The thing that that that I don't uh. I you know, if I was the guy overseeing and I was just you know, you know, waving a magic wand whatever that means. You know, in this scenario, I would I would advise Nico Harrison and Patrick Dumont to instead of running away from what's going on. In other words, Nico doesn't show up in his usual seat for the game, He doesn't show up for the first game after the trade.

You know, wasn't there at all. You know that To me, if I'm a fan, I look at that and go, okay, that that even makes me a little more, you know, upset about this or there's something else you know that I'm like, I would rather see them turn around and do just the opposite, just hit it head on, you know. And and I was just saying to to James Peterson before we came on the air, Hey, if I was them, I'd say, hey, you know what we should do. We should have we should have a town hall meeting tomorrow

at noon. Anybody who's upset at this, come on down, let's go. You know, and you know you you guys pay the bills. You guys are investing in this like us. We'll answer the questions. Now. If I get a question and I don't feel like, you know, revealing you know, corporate you know, secrets or things that I think, you know should stay in the house, then I'll say so.

But I'm going to give you the opportunity to vent to me and for us to talk it through, and to give you, you know, as much as I can the rationale of why, you know, we don't just do this.

I mean, you know, if I'm if I'm playing Nico Harrison for a minute, I don't just wake up in the middle of the night and say, hey, I think it's a good idea if we get rid of one of the best players in the league, and I'm not gonna tell anybody why We're just going to do it like that doesn't really wash with a lot of people.

So you know, you have to explain to people. You know, you don't explain all of your business, obviously, but but you tell people as much as you can about this process, and you have to ask people to think for a minute, to step back and say, do you think we would trade a top five player who's not even in his prime yet age, why, who's performing the way he has performed so far for us for for just just to do it and just to get a different look on

our team. I mean, I hope you think that we have more than that in our substance in making these decisions to to to be able to exercise something that we know is going to be difficult, you know, to deal with. You know, we didn't think this was just going to go in a twenty four hour news cycle

and then everybody's onto the next thing. And so, you know, give us some credit or at least have some substance to thinking that that there's a rationale, there's some reasoning behind why we would make such a move, you know, in the benefit of our organization, of you, our fans. That's that's where our responsibility is. And I would just hit it head on, you know, in that regard, because that's usually if you look in the pass in any

scenario of this nature spence where there's an uproar. But any decision, is it a a sports decision, is it a governmental decision? Is it something you know that affects our culture or our life. People who are in those positions that when times when they've just faced the music head on and took it on and said, hey, let's go, let's go, what do you got, Let's talk it out and and and do that. Most of the time people go, yeah,

but what if what if this thing? And you go, well, you know, because of A B and C whatever, and and and then you find out people realize, okay, I don't know, you know, and and but they but they start backing down because they understand that you're in a difficult position and you wouldn't make a decision like this unless you actually felt somewhere that this made sense, uh, for the for the overall business that were running. You know, whether you understand what those things are or you don't.

I can communicate some of them to you, some of them I might not be able to, but at least rationally look at it, you know, for what it is, instead of trying to find you know, some underbelly or some you know some you know, there's gotta be some secret thing that's going on that nobody's telling us, you know whatever, And you know, it's just I think people. You have to give people credit, you know, for for trying to help you to overall understand what this overall situation is. If that makes any.

talents in all of the lead. Well, he affects the game, yes, yes, And so now the problem is he's hurt now, and he might be shelved for four or five weeks, and so as we react to what's in the moment, if you're Nico Harrison, the worst case scenario happened where he's hurt, and so even you know, if he's able to come back and at some point maybe make a difference, in the postseason. Where we are in the news cycle right

now is these guys are getting killed. The only thing I could think of is when Kevin decided to trade Darren, as far as trying to be analogous here in the market now, the circumstances were much different, and that's what I think confuses a lot of people, because Darren and Jerry had their thing, and so Kevin had Jerry's back and said, we don't want this male content.

d Aaron Fox situation Sacramento a few weeks ago, where Fox came out and said, you know it didn't say it directly, but but there were all indications internally that he's gonna he's not gonna come back here when he's a free agent, right, whether it's Aaron Fox, that was the so called scuttle. But with Donovan Mitchell, I'm not sure if that was if that was totally uh accurate or or or a truism, but that's that that that's

what the general perception was, uh with Darren. With Darren Williams, it was the same similar type thing we don't know if Darren Williams is gonna come back when he's a free agent in a year and a half. And so let's you know, we we we put that together with the discord or whatever's going on, you know with uh, with coach Sloan and that kind of stuff, and you go, Okay, you know, maybe it makes sense to to do something now, you know, while your value is high and in terms

of that that player. But but again, Spence, uh, Kevin, Kevin O'Connor, you know, did I wouldn't say exactly the same because I obviously I wasn't wasn't in the room, you know, with Nico Harrison and and and and all that stuff. But but but Kevin, you know, in a similar fashion, did you know, handled it in uh kind of the same framework that Nico Harrison did with Darren Williams. He didn't tell any of us what was going on, uh in his in in our so called in their circle,

whatever that was. You know, I didn't know what was happening. You know. Kevin did it with his good friend Billy King, who was the general manager in New Jersey Nets at the time. They had worked together in Philadelphia ten years earlier become very good friends, very good colleagues. They felt they could trust each other in terms of doing some kind of a deal that didn't get out in the media.

A Lah, the Jimmy Butler Miami Heat type thing, and uh and they they they put a package together and discussed it, and then Kevin went to, uh, you know, the Miller family and said, hey, I think you know, for reasons A, B, and C, this is this is a good time to make a move like this, even though it's our best player and it's gonna hurt us in the short term, but I think it'll help us somewhere down the line the long term. Okay, the Miller's

bought bought into that. Okay. And I'm sitting in my office on the day that they know it was leaked, and I see a scroll on the TV in my office. It says, you know, breaking news Darren Williams Trade at the you know, I'm going, what is that? You know whatever? And then and then Kevin literally like walked through my office. I said, Hey, what is this thing on the on the on the TV. And he looks and he goes, oh, is that out already? And I looked at him I said,

is that a real thing? He goes, yeah, you know, typical Kevin fashion. He shrugged and then kept walking. You know, so now I got to go chase him down the hallway into his office, what's going on whatever? And you know, but he did a similar thing where he played it close to the vest because he didn't want to be on the public, didn't want to have to deal with media and all that kind of stuff in the similar

fashion what happened with Dallas and Lakers last week. And sometimes front office people in those decision making roles will will handle things in a particular way because they feel that's the best way to handle it with the least amount of noise going on around it, and it doesn't really affect, you know, the decision making process that they're going through.

Jazz and the Lakers come into town tonight. And you know, it's interesting a lot of the national guests that we have on to talk Pro basketball all some of them will text me before the interview like dude, I got nothing on the Jazz, or just like you don't ask

me about it. And with this entire boom of the media attention surrounding Luke and Lebron, I've listened to a lot of podcasts, watch a lot of coverage, and they all say the same thing, like, well, we can't learn anything about them yet because they're only playing the Jazz, not a serious team about winning this year. With thirty games left, what would you say to Jazz fans about some takeaways you've had that are positive that they can

just kind of latch onto. If there's anything there to indicate that this thing is moving in the right direction.

it hasn't gotten anybody. There's still a bottom five defensive team. Larry Markinen, you know, had a very good first year with the Jazz, obviously played to an all star level. He's gone down a little bit. You know. Some of that I think is just because he's he doesn't have a good team around him, and so there's you know, the other teams are leaning on him a little bit. But how about this little little tidbit which is which is interesting more than anything that that's really helpful to

the cause. But John Collins through you know, two thirds of the season, after they play these two games, it will really be two thirds of the way through the season. John Collins is playing close to a one eighty clip. He's shooting over fifty from the floor, he's shooting forty four from three and eighty seven from the line, so he's almost close to you know, you know, touching up on that that that fifty forty ninety line that we talked about Lowry Markinen last year. You know touching John

Collins is playing official now. He hasn't played a lot of games. He's been out a bunch of games. He's been out like fourteen to fifteen games. He's only started half the games that the Jazz have played. But the other guy who's been playing very efficiently and is out currently with an ankle injury is Colin Sexton, who's played very well, and again he's played much more efficiently than

Lowry Marketing is. If you look at their numbers, you know, Sexton to market In, you know, field goal percentage forty eight to forty two, three point percentage forty one to thirty five, field goal free throw percentage eighty nine to eighty six. I mean, Colin Sexton has played very efficiently, very well. So he's he's played better this year. So he's a guy that I'm excited to see if they hold on to him in the offseason because I think he can really continue to play well and play efficiently.

He's really grown into his game and his body and and the way he plays aggressively on the court. Walker Kessler has shown to me that that he's a he's a rim protector. He's a natural rebounder. He's a guy who can who can uh can get you a double digital rebounds. He's gonna average a double double. I think he's never gonna be a great score, but he's gonna be able to get mop up points and easy rim runs and stuff like that. And you know, I think he'll always be like a you know, a twelve and

twelve type guy. And then if he can average a couple of block shots, I think he's someone who's who's a keeper for them with marking in with maybe sext and how they see that. John Collins again, I've never been a big John Collins fan, but he's played, he's played better this year. He's got a year left on his contract, which is a big number twenty six for really for what he does. But John Collins is also the same age as Lowry Markin. He's not an old guy.

You know, he came in young. So so these are guys that that you think they I don't know if they'll all be with them, you know, next year, but I think they're guys who can be guys that that that are somewhat of a foundation. Now you still have to have a couple of these young guys show up. The one guy who's who's played better. Uh, still don't know if I really like his game that much, but he has improved somewhat in this these first fifty games

is Isaiah Collier. You know, he's he's a natural passer. Sometimes he gets too deep into the defense, into the paint and then and predetermines where he's gonna throw the pass, and and and he's turned over prone that way. But he's he's really looks like he's got a good feel early in off in the offense to to where the balls supposed to be. And the other thing I like about him is that he'll get it and he'll push it aggressively from free throw line to free throw line.

So instead of walking it up like Kante George does and and saunter into an offense, Collier will really push it and he'll he'll he'll he'll make a quick speed pass to somebody up ahead to try and get something early. And that's what I just like, that mindset that, you know, trying to push it, push it, to be aggressive that way. He's a young guy. He's two years removed from high school, so he's got a ways to go. But I like some of his natural tendencies when he has the ball

in his hand to get it to teammates. That that now, his issue, obviously is he can't shoot, and so does that get appreciably better or at least better enough that that he can stay in the lineup and stay on the floor late in games and make some things happen. But I like his game a little bit. It's one on me a little bit. But a lot of the other guys, you know, the jury still, I'm not sure how many of them, if any of them, will be be here long term.

at all. But there are some things about him that are in eight that he has that I wasn't sure that would translate to pro basketball because we didn't see a ton of him in college and only saw one year. And your point, it's important to reiterate two years out of high school is he's a puppy.

turned into a seventy five percent free throw shooter. Yeah, you can learn to shoot it, right, Like you think Isaiah can learn to be a thirty five percent three point shooter.

it quickly. And he also has a great first step when he gets the ball in a half court off and he sees that he has a slight advantage on his guy, he can really he can put it on the floor and he can get two steps really quickly right to the dotted line. And and then he's got that powerful body. He's got like a Marcus Smart type body, and so he can he can get it. He can get it with speed he sees the floor. Uh, he's gotta he's gotta smooth out those rough edges. Will he

ever be a serviceable shooter? Okay, well, we'll see that. That was also a concern with Marcus Smart when he came into the league. And obviously he made himself into a bona fide uh A player in this league and and and obviously was a defensive Player of the Year a couple of years ago. You know, this kid has the chance to be something like that with his innate speed,

uh feel for the game. Now, can he can smooth out the other the other parts of his game to make him himself more valuable and someone who gets more extended time as he goes along. But he's a guy who I would I would if I was a fan, I'd be keeping an eye on to see how he improves because he has he has the body and he has some of the innate athleticism that you need in this league as a lead guard to to have some success. Can he can he grow into that three years from

now when he's twenty three years old. Is he appreciably better and is he one of the guys you're counting on. That's one of the things that you want to take into account.

year of Cody Williams. Okay, now, Cody's had some injury issues, I'm pulling up his numbers right now. So Cody right now has played in twenty seven games.

as showing any kind of potential. You know, he's long, he's thin, okay, whatever, you know, so what does that mean you know and uh uh you know my old colleague and and and obviously one of the one of you guys on on the radio station here weekly or Coach Cheese, you know, would always would always come back with, you know, if you brought up a guy that that he didn't he didn't like, or question about what he could what he could do to help you, he'd always

come back with just this three word question, which was always very salient, you know, as succinct as it could be. You'd bring up a guy and you'd say, Cody Williams, Cordy, Cody, Cody Williams. He'd go to do what do what? Yeah, to do what? You know? And and and that's what I would say about him. You know, somebody brings him up, I go to do what? You know? What does he do? You know, he doesn't guard anybody. He doesn't use that

length athleticism, he doesn't hasn't shown any toughness. He doesn't have any kind of offensive game that he could go to, whether it's a dribbled drive game and use his athleticism to get up and over guys and do that or around guys with quickness or can't shoot it over the top of guy. You know, I don't know what he does. So so this has been an interesting year for him. I think he I would I would label it as a disappointment myself. I don't know what they see in

him going forward. If if it's just he has to get his mindset, he has to get some toughness, he has to get some strength his body, he has to get a skill level up. Although you know, for me, for him on that if you're grading him out on a on a report card, you know, all those things are things that he has to get better at or he's not gonna you know, graduate to the next class.

You know, that's that's just the way it is. And so you know, they have quite a few of those guys for me, but he's one that sticks out that you go, yeah, he just to me, it looks like he's, you know, not sure what he's doing out there and doesn't doesn't play with a lot of confidence and doesn't play with any you know, like Collier. He makes a mistake, okay, he throws up in the fourth row, whatever, but he plays with a certain amount of confidence and and and toughness,

at least offensively aggressiveness. I should say but but Cody Williams for me is uh is a is a big, big question mark? All right?

I think the building will be packed tonight. But when it comes to what JJ Reddick has now at his disposal, I was listening to media after the Jazz game and then he did some media I want to say it was yesterday maybe after practice. Made a point that with their roster now, the third best defender on the opposing team as to guard Austin Reeves. Now, Austin is not Luca Lebron, but he's a good player. You can run

stuff through Austin Reeves. He's a capable ball handler, he passes it pretty well and when he gets going, he can really score. But obviously the headline is Lebron and it's Luca. How do you think this is going to work and what do you think JJ is going to try to implement to make sure because they now have the opportunity to play forty eight minutes of pro basketball with either Luka Doncic or Lebron James. I still think

Oklahoma City is head and shoulders above everybody. I will not bury the Denver Nuggets, even though a lot of people have. Jamal Murray's been better as of late, but they have the best player on the planet, Nicola Jokic. But when it comes to what JJ Reddick has at his disposal, Jazz fans going to the game, what do you think this Laker attack is going to look like right away? And what's best case as far as what it looks like when it's.

Now he's playing with James and Doncic, and so he gets to do some things and maybe he's you know, if he's with the jazz team, I don't think he's as effective because he'd be asked to do too many things that he's not used to doing it at a high volume level. But but I like the way he plays. I liked him at Oklahoma. You know, he played well, you know in college, was an all around kind of guy. But he's a guy who who plays off of the

strengths of his teammates. And he's been playing with a couple of great teammates, you know, so far in l A and and that's been switched out. But we'll see what, you know, how it is going forward. But they still have a big problem with their roster. You know, Mark Williams, the trade didn't go through, and now the other kid just got hurt, you know, the other big guy that they have the name of Caseman at the moment with the Lakers, and so now you know, they're they're really down.

You know, they're short. Big guy whether it's Jared Vanderbilt is going to try and plug in there. It's gonna be tough. Their roster is not very good beyond those guys, and so they have to rely when they get to the playoffs, they have to hope that Doncic and James are healthy, that Reeves is healthy, which you know he's been for the most part. But Doncic and James are gonna be playing, you know, forty two forty three, forty

four minutes in playoff games. And we've seen both guys be able to lift their teams up with the way that they play. And so I wouldn't put anything past a team that has a healthy Lebron James on it because he's he's always proven that he's that good, you know, when the when the real lights come on. So can they get past Okay, see, can they get past Memphis, which is a very good team when they're healthy? Can

they get past a healthy Denver team? You know these guys, these are tough uh teams that that are going to give them a lot of problems. You know, is Golden State gonna be better uh towards the end of the season when when Jimmy Butler gets in the in the flow and if those guys are healthy, you know, with Green and Curry, you know, can they make some kind of noise in in the in the playoffs? It's you know, as we always say, Spence, the old worn out adage, right,

the best players best ability is his availability. And so that's what it comes down to when you get to the to the playoffs, is who's who's on the floor, who's healthy and and can they can they carry a team over a seven game stretch, you know, and and that kind of an atmosphere.

did not want to live in Salt Lake City. What's it like when the trade is actually consummated and then for whatever reason, it falls apart, then you have to remind the guy who trade to wait, no, we actually do.

round pick to the Orlando Magic for Ronnie Cyclely. And Ronnie Cyclely was an offensive center, was a good player and would have fit in well with what the Jazz are doing at that time, and the Jazz in Orlando

actually made the trade. Chris Morris and Greg Foster went to Orlando, they did their physical, they actually attended an Orlando practice, and then they were pulled off the court after practice, and Ronnie Cyclely was balking about coming, balking about coming, something about you know, whether he wanted to play here or he wanted his contract extended, if he was coming something something, And so finally the traders just called off, and the parties involve said, you know what,

there's too much heavy lifting going on here. We're just going back to what we had. And so Greg Foster and Chris Morris come back to the Jazz. They have a meeting with Jerry Sloan. You guys got a problem. You know, this is the NBA, this is the business. Both guys are like, now, you know, we get it whatever,

And we ended up. The Jazz ended up that year going on and making another run to the to the their second NBA Finals in ninety eight, with both those guys playing minutes in rotation and and uh and Greg Foster doing his famous throat slash and and at near the end of Game four in La to to help the Jazz go get over the hump and and then get to the NBA Finals again. And you know, that's just part of the business. You know. You hope you got guys who who understand that. I got a young

guy like Dalton Connect. You know, he's a rookie. Okay, you know he's a little bit of an older rookie. But you know, you know, guys, Jerry Sloan will always say, you know, are your feelings hurt? You know? Okay, well, you know you got about ten minutes to get over that, and then we got we got work to do. And and that's just the business, you know. And it's an unfortunate part.

They always split it up for whatever reason. So you'd always go there, play the Lakers, go back, go to Phoenix, go to Sacramento, go somewhere else. Three weeks later, go back to LA to play the Clippers. Whatever. Now they've got this thing where, you know, an unusual quirk in the schedule where they're playing the LA teams four times

in a row, which is unusual. That's about the best thing I can come up with for any interesting storyline about the game tonight, Spence, because otherwise, really, let's be honest, it's just game fifty one out of eighty two in early February that nobody really cares much about other than maybe Luca Doncic and Lebron James both play. Maybe they both.